Author: S. Ahmed Ali
Publication:
Date: March 28, 2001
Amid tight security inside Hotel
Diplomat in Colaba, Income Tax officers waited to auction the properties
of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. On January 11 too they had waited but
no one turned up to bid. But at 3pm today, Ajay Kumar Srivastav, who claims
to be the Delhi unit president of Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena, walked in.
Out of the 12 properties listed,
he picked up an industrial block at the Jayraj lane in Central Mumbai,
the cheapest, at Rs 2.5 lakh. Srivastav had come prepared with a demand
draft for the earnest money, 25 per cent of the amount.
Additional Commissioner of Income
Tax, Sayyad Ashraf, confirmed the bidding.It is not clear who is backing
Srivastav since it is difficult to expect anyone from Delhi coming in to
take on the powerful underworld. Police sources said that they are closely
monitoring the developments.
When contacted, Shiv Sena leader
Raj Thackeray confirmed that Ajay Kumar Srivastav is the president of his
party's students wing in Delhi. But he said he was not aware of any such
transaction.
Delhi Shiv Sena chief Jai Bhagwan
Goyal too was not aware of such a move. He said: ''Someone mentioned this
to me. I cannot figure out the logic of this. Ajay obviously did not take
advice from me or any other senior leader. He should have. There is no
way in which the party is going to gain from this. If Balasahib wanted
someone to pick up this property he could have asked the numerous Sainiks
in Mumbai to do so. Why Ajay? It looks like he has done this on his own.''When
asked if he had the blessings of his Sena bosses, Srivastav said he had
sent a message across and could not contact Raj Thackeray as he was in
a meeting.
Srivastav said he was buying the
property to encourage the others. He said: ''The property is worth Rs 80
lakh to Rs 90 lakh but as there were no bidders, we got it for Rs 2.5 lakh.
I am going to start relief work from there for the victims of the bomb
blasts.'' The property which was auctioned today is occupied by garment
manufacturers and the Income Tax authorities will have to evict them. When
asked about evicting the occupants of the premises, Srivastav said: ''I
don't think Mumbai police will be able to help. I have to seek the court's
help.''Mumbai Police Commissioner M.N. Singh said: ''I have not recieved
any information about the auction or who bought it but if needed we will
give (him) security.''
