Journalist-turned-activist S Balakrishnan on Wednesday made the highest bid of Rs 4.28 crores in the auction for Delhi Zaika' Hotel, one of the seized properties of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim
Once owned by underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, an eatery on the narrow Pakmodia Street in South Mumbai, a green sedan and tenancy rights to a property in suburban Matunga will today go under the hammer here.
The auction took place in Hotel Diplomat in South Mumbai. Former city based journalist S Balakrishnan, a Delhi-based lawyer Ajay Shrivastava and president of Hindu Mahasabha Swami Chakrapani were among the bidders, police said.
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Former journalist S Balakrishnan who won the final bid for one of the seven properties of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar at Hotel Diplomat, Colaba in Mumbai on Tuesday. PIC/SHADAB KHAN
Journalist-turned-activist Balakrishnan on Wednesday made the highest bid of Rs. 4.28 crores in the public auction for the 'Delhi Zaika' Hotel, one of the seized properties of Dawood.
The auction, which took place under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (forfeiture of properties) Act, started with a reserve price of Rs 1.18 crore.
"We had made a bid of Rs.4.28 crores which is leading at the present. Burhani had made a bid of Rs.4.27 crores and then I extended the bid by one lakh," Balakrishnan told the media.
"Seven properties were auctioned today. Four other properties located in Nani Dammanna Agricultural area were auctioned separately. Thereafter, A Hyundai Accent car located in Ghatkopar, was also auctioned," he added.
"We have already deposited Rs. 30 lakhs and the rest would be paid within one month," he said.
He, however, insisted that the clear picture on the bidding process would be clear by today evening.
When Dawood Ibrahim fled India, he left behind property worth crores, whose value has gone up significantly in the past few years.
Balakrishnan, who runs an NGO, has participated in the auction this time as he wants to set up an education centre for poor at Pakmodia Street that was sealed in 2013.
Speaking to PTI, Balakrishnan, who is the Chairman of Desh Seva Samiti, said, "My NGO wants this property (eatery on Pakmodia) to help underprivileged women and children of Bhendi Bazar to learn computers. This will help the people in society and give a strong message to gangsters like Dawood that Indians are not afraid from him and he can no longer unleash terror in the country."
Earlier, Balakrishnan had filed a complaint with the police saying that Dawood¿s right-hand man Chhota Shakeel had threatened him against bidding for the property.
The police said that the eatery, Delhi Zaika, earlier hotel Rounak Afroz, is located at a stone's throw distance from Dawood's house in Dambarwala building where his younger brother Iqbal Kaskar resides.
"Local police force will be deployed at the site and we will keep a watch at the event," said DCP (Detection) Dhananjay Kulkarni.
Assets on auction include an eatery on Pakmodia Street where the gangster lived in 1980s, tenancy rights of a room in a building at Matunga and a car gathering dust in the premises of a police station in suburban Ghatkopar.
The government agency has appointed a private firm to hold the auction under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Properties) Act, 1976.A Hyundai Accent (MH-04-AX-3676) is priced at Rs 15,700. This green sedan has been parked at a government society in Ghatkopar from past four years and is in bad shape with burst tyres and shattered windshield.
The room, which belongs to the gangster, is situated in Mahavir Building in Matunga, said police. The base price for the 32.77 sq metre room has been fixed at Rs 50.44 lakh. Lawyer Shrivastava, who had earlier in an auction won an industrial unit in Tardeo owned by Dawood in 2001, has not yet got its possession as the don's sister Haseena Parkar had challenged it in court. The next hearing of this matter is scheduled on December 18.
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