Chhota Shakeel, younger brother underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and one of the accused in the Mumbai serial blasts case has said that Yakub Memon’s hanging is unjustified.
Shakeel called it “a legal murder” and accused the Indian government for betraying the promises it made to lure him back to India.
A furious Shakeel in an exclusive telephonic interview to TOI says that India’s “betrayal” and that neither he, Dawood nor other fugitives will ever think of returning to India.
“Dawood bhai would have been meted the same fate if he would have come at that time… it is clear now,” he said, of the chief of D-Company, who along with Yakub’s elder brother, silver smuggler Tiger Memon, choreographed the carnage in Mumbai in March 1993.
“What message has the Indian government sent across? You have punished an innocent man for his brother’s act. The company condemns it. It’s a legal murder,” Shakeel said in the exclusive conversation in which he chillingly spoke of “consequences” for the hanging. “Woh (consequences) to hoga hi,’ he said.
According to Shakeel, Tiger was the real culprit and was responsible for the 1993 Mumbai blasts and Yakub Memon has only suffered for Tiger’s deeds.
“Nobody will believe your agencies if they make a promise next time. Nobody will trust the Indian government in future,” said Dawood’s lieutenant who appeared to have closely tracked Yakub’s trial especially in the closing stages and came off as someone who was well-conversant with the ways of the Supreme Court.
Shakeel specifically denied that Yakub had associations with Dawood Ibrahim. “He (Yakub) was accused of association with Dawood bhai. That’s not true.”
He stated that Yakub’s return to India was part of an understanding with agencies. “His (Yakub) family’s visa was put up in Dubai. He called his family there and then surrendered. What for?” Shakeel fumed.
“What has changed with this execution? Have you received anything new? He has suffered… Somebody has done something but you punish his brother. His brother is mental; you punished him too… mother too… Bring him and hang the one who has done it.”
“Somebody trusted a government but the government breached the trust. The company doesn’t have any faith in the government who will come back to get killed?”
His wife came to India with a few months old child and stayed in jail for months.. What justice is this.. He cooperated but what did you do to him…”
The focus of his attack was on Indian agencies with Shakeel saying that they do not trust their own officers.
“First of all. You don’t trust your officers! B Raman and many others… nobody trusted his writing,” Shakeel said, referring to the article of the reputed former R&AW officer where he had argued for Yakub being spared the gallows for bringing evidence of Pakistan’s authorship of the serial blasts. The suggestion of a “deal” in the article provided fodder for the defence team of Yakub as they argued for the commutation of death sentence in the last lap of the judicial process.
“Dilli ka ek officer… CBI ka… usne bola ki iska role nahi hai… par tum logo ne uska believe nahi kiya…”
He lashes out at Ujjawal NIkam for the prosecutor’s alleged statement that Yakub’s hanging was a message to terrorists. “Ujjawal Nikam ne bola ki ek message de rahe hain un logon ko…Yaar haemin message den eke liye begunaaho ko faasi pe latka rahe ho.”