Gangster Lakdawala shot in Bangkok

Gangland killings resumed their foreign jaunt late Sunday night, when former Chhota Rajan aide Ejaz Lakdawala was gunned down in downtown Ba...

Gangland killings resumed their foreign jaunt late Sunday night, when former Chhota Rajan aide Ejaz Lakdawala was gunned down in downtown Bangkok. The murder appears to have been masterminded by the Chhota Shakeel gang.

Lakdawala, his wife and their 18-month-old son were enjoying a nightly stroll when one of the shooters closed in, firing six rounds from close range. The first bullets pierced his skull. The next few shots entered his chest. The handsome gangster, originally from Dongri in South Mumbai, died instantly, at around 10.20 pm local time.

Crime Branch sources say the killer squad had been stalking their target, after a man named Fazal tipped off that he was outdoors. Initially they were doubtful, because Lakdawala was holding his son in his arms.

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They followed Lakdawala for a few metres. A short while later, the baby was set down, to walk with his parents. His wife witnessed the entire gruesome episode.

Police sources say Fazal informed the Shakeel gang that Lakdawala had been secretly parking his car outside his residence on 31, Sukumvit Soi, in downtown Bangkok for the past few weeks. He had been shuttling between Thailand and Malaysia in recent months, fearing he could be killed.

The needle of suspicion points to Gurbachan Singh alias Mikky from Mumbai’s western suburbs. He is Shakeel’s point man in Bangkok.

Shakeel reportedly believed Lakdawala to be one of the masterminds in Sharad Shetty’s killing in Dubai on January 19 this year. Crime Branch officers refute this.

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Lakdawala has been a key target of the rival Dawood gang after he was named in the murder of Farid Rizvi and Farook Ladhi. There are unconfirmed reports that he was one of the shooters in the killing of M K Builder and Shaukat Sarkar in Bandra in 1998.

Lakdawala began his career in white collar crime, before graduating to gold smuggling. He was detained under the provisions of Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Act (COFEPOSA), 1974, in the early 1990s. Sources also say he is a drug addict, who escaped from police custody while being escorted from Nashik Jail in 1999.

It was in Nashik Jail that he was inducted into the Rajan gang by top aide Santosh Shetty.