Dawood set to anoint his successor soon

Fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim, once the ruling deity of Mumbai’s underworld, has decided to call it a day. According to a news report, Dawood, who is currently based out of Karachi in Pakistan and is protected by the country’s security forces round-the-clock, is likely to be succeeded by one of his brothers and Anees Ahmed is the front-runner.

Sources said Dawood’s trusted lieutenant Chhota Shakeel — often referred to as the gang CEO — will mostly likely retain his position. Till Wednesday evening though there was no official word on the D-Company heir apparent and many people in Mumbai, usually well informed on developments in the gang, said they had heard nothing about Bhai stepping down.

Word from Karachi, however, is that the name will be declared at an opulent birthday celebration on Saturday, when Dawood turns 60. The venue of the birthday celebrations is a closely guarded secret. 

Even those who have received the invite have not yet been told about the venue. All they have been informed about is their hotel reservations and that they will be picked up just minutes before the celebration and taken to the party. Dawood has decided that his failing health will not allow him to helm D-company’s $10 billion multinational empire of drugs, betting, hawala, and arms smuggling.

The gangster is likely to remain active in the gang for at least couple of years more and help in the transition. After the death of his brother Noorul Haq, alias Noora, and deportation of Iqbal Kaskar from Dubai, Dawood now has three brothers living with him — Anees, Humayun and Mustaqeem. Humayun and Mustaqeem are not very active in the gang’s activities. Mustaqeem, in fact, suffers from a chronic ailment which keeps him confined to home. This leaves the deck clear for Anees, who, along with Shakeel, runs the gang’s day-to-day operations.

Since Chhota Rajan split from D-company in 1994, Shakeel has been Dawood’s closest aide. However, mafia families are as parochial and clannish as politicians, preferring pedigree over talent and loyalty. Aware of the gang’s family dynamics, Shakeel is unlikely to block Anees’s elevation.