Mumbai: 

Behind the veil: This photograph of Qudsiya was taken at a wedding a few years ago. Now, cops want to question her on another  wedding where family members allegedly met Dawood in Pakistan. Pic/Shadab Khan

It's an unwritten law in the court of Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, who figures fourth in the Interpol's list of the world's top 10 fugitives, that his family comes first.

Underworld sources say every time his family hurts, the pain he feels is manifold. So, yesterday when his niece, Qudsiya Sheikh (28), got anticipatory bail from the Sewri court in a forgery and cheating case, Dawood was understandably relieved.

Qudsiya's advocate Yogesh Israni said the police wanted his client's custody to question her about Dawood.

"The arrest is being sought without any fresh evidence," Israni pointed out. "First they wanted Qudsiya as a witness, now they want to arrest her," he added.

The police also feel that Qudsiya could point them to those who attended Dawood's nephew, Razaak's wedding last month in Pakistan.

He is married to an ISI official's daughter. Razaak is the son of Shabir, Dawood's slain
elder brother.

But neither Qudsiya, nor her mother Haseena Parkar attended the wedding. In fact, this is the first time in the passport forgery case, that Qudsiya, a quiet housewife, has had to make a public appearance. Married to Zaheer Sheikh, a garment manufacturer near Bhindi Bazaar, the couple have a daughter. For all that, Qudsiya has been no stranger to violence – she was in her teens when she saw her father Danish Parkar gunned down on the streets of Nagpada on July 27, 1992 - a victim of inter-gang rivalry. The other big influence in her life has been her mama Dawood, but she was just four, when the gangster left India around 1984.

The case

Although the passport cheating and forgery case was registered in 1999, Qudsiya's name was added recently when an agent who was arrested two weeks ago, revealed that she was involved in the case.

Qudsiya was then booked under Sections 420, 465, 468 and 471 for forgery and cheating. In 1999, Haseena's late son Danish Parkar, used forged documents to obtain a passport. Danish and Qudsiya reportedly forged electricity bills and used bogus college documents as their education certificate.