Sanjay Dutt

Mumbai, June 4: The CBI has sent letters rogatory to the UAE seeking details of the association of Sanjay Dutt, Mahesh Manjrekar and other Bollywood figures with Dawood Ibrahim’s “D-Company”, a top agency official said.

The names of two Bollywood actresses — both of whom “allegedly” shared romantic liaisons with Dawood and his brother Anees— also figure on the list. The CBI sent the letters after approval from the home ministry.

“We have information that in the 90s, these people were guests of Dawood in Dubai on various occasions. Their hotel bills were picked up by the D-Company. They were regulars at their parties and weddings. We want to know the extent of these associations,” the CBI official said.

The information, though, has not been sought in connection with any particular ongoing investigation. ‘‘But as investigators, we need these records as some of them are still in touch with the underworld,’’ the official said.

Letters rogatory are formal requests for judicial assistance from courts in one country to those in another nation. They remain one of the most common methods for collection of evidence from a foreign country, and are usually entertained when the nations have an extradition and mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT).

“In the case of the UAE, we have had a MLAT in place for over a decade, but it did not produce the desired results. Things are changing now with stronger bonds between the two nations, helping investigative agencies,” the CBI official said.

The bilateral ties, always warm, got a boost from the visit of UAE Vice-President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid to New Delhi in March.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), too, hopes to leverage the robust relations between the two nations to achieve a breakthrough in the multi-crore bribery case involving former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda.

The ED had sent a letter rogatory after approval from a Ranchi court in February, but things have started moving only in the past two months.

“We suspect that a part of Koda’s multi-crore fortune was invested in nine luxury properties in Dubai worth around Rs 221 crore in all. We are also probing five foreign bank accounts and eight foreign and Indian firms,” said an ED official.

Officials suspect Koda invested money in real estate projects in Dubai through his business associates Binod Sinha and Anil Bastawade.

“According to our information, Koda and his associates invested in nine plots valued at over Rs 221 crore. Of this, Rs 80 crore has already been paid. The properties include state-of-the-art residential apartments Spica and Triangle Tower located at prime locations in Dubai, including in the upscale Jumeira village. We need documents from the UAE to corroborate our findings. The letter rogatory is for this purpose,” said the ED official.

Koda’s money, ED sources said, was wired — transferred online — to Dubai through hawala channels. “We are hopeful of getting concrete evidences and leads” the official said.

Another case being held up as an example is the arrest last month of Abdul Samad Bhatkal, believed to be linked to the German Bakery blast in Pune in February, soon after he arrived in Mangalore from Dubai. The arrest, officially made in a 2009 arms seizure, triggered speculation Bhatkal may have been deported.