Mirchi, an aide of Dawood Ibrahim, was involved in drug trafficking and extortion for the underworld don before his death in the UK in August 2013…reports Asian Lite News
After fugitive businessmen Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and middleman Sanjay Bhandari, India has initiated another high-profile extradition effort in the United Kingdom (UK) – this time for the wife and sons of Iqbal Mirchi, an aide of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.
India’s Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) extradition request for Mirchi’s wife Hajra Memon and sons, Junaid Iqbal Memon and Asif Iqbal Memon, has been sent to the UK through proper channels after it was approved by a special court in Mumbai, people familiar with the development said on condition of anonymity.
It is soon likely to be filed in a court in London through Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), they added.
The Memons, accused of using drug money to acquire properties across the world, fled to the UK sometime in 2019 when ED launched a probe against them. A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court, in February last year, declared them as fugitive economic offenders (FEO) and Interpol red notices were also issued against them around the same time.
Hajra and Iqbal Memon are Indian citizens while Asif holds a British passport.
Mirchi, an aide of Dawood Ibrahim, was involved in drug trafficking and extortion for the underworld don before his death in the UK in August 2013.
According to the central anti-money laundering probe agency, Mirchi owned properties at several places in Mumbai, the UAE and also owns at least 16 properties in the UK. Properties worth ₹798 crore owned by the family have already been attached by ED in 2020. These include a farmhouse, two bungalows and a 3.5-acre plot of land in Panchgani, besides 15 properties in the UAE.
The central agency filed a money laundering case against the Memons in 2019 to investigate their link in alleged illegal dealings in the purchase and sale of real estate in Mumbai and a charge sheet was filed in December 2019.
One of the people cited above said “irrefutable evidence has been presented in the extradition request sent to the UK and we are hopeful that formal proceedings in the court will begin soon”.
Indian agencies have already won extradition proceedings against two other fugitives based in London – Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi. After the UK high court ordered his extradition in 2020, Mallya was denied permission to file an appeal in the UK Supreme Court but his extradition is pending due to “secret political proceedings”, as claimed by the British government.
Similarly, extradition for Modi, lodged in Wandsworth prison for almost three years now, has already been ordered by a Westminster court but he has challenged the same before the UK high court.
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