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A much publicised auction of property seized from Indian underworld boss, Dawood Ibrahim, has failed to attract even one serious bidder.
It was the second time in as many years that the auction - organised by the income tax department in India's financial capital, Bombay - failed to take off.
Fear of retribution from the underworld is widely seen as the reason for the poor response to the sale.
Nobody came forward... to participate in the auction proceedings Tax official Syed Ashraf
The income tax department had put 11 Bombay properties belonging to Mr Ibrahim and his family members on sale to recover tax dues from the mafia boss.
Mr Ibrahim is believed to be running his underworld operations in India from the Pakistani city of Karachi.
"Nobody came forward to deposit the 25,000 rupees required as earnest money to participate in the auction proceedings," Syed Ashraf, additional income-tax commissioner, said.
Only one South African national of Indian origin came to the auction hall in south Bombay's Diplomat hotel as a potential bidder.
But he too did not have the money required to take part in the auction.
India's most wanted
There was a heavy police presence in the auction room, but in the end they were left with little to do.
Income tax department officials said the property - valued approximately at 5.25b rupees ($112.6m) - could be brought under the hammer once again next year.
But observers say the fate of next year's auction is unlikely to be any different.
Dawood Ibrahim is the alleged kingpin of Bombay's criminal underworld. He oversees a multi-million dollar vice empire covering prostitution, gambling, and drugs.
He is the man Indian police most want in connection with several murders, extortion and smuggling.
He is also the principal accused
in the 1993 Bombay bomb blasts case in which several hundred people died.
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