Police claim Shah was a conduit for extortion money

The Crime Branch’s case does not rest just on the taped conversation between Shah and Chhota Shakeel. Critical as it is to buttressing their theory that Shah had links with Shakeel, the police have sought to corroborate this piece of ‘‘evidence’’ with confessions of Nazim Rizvi, the statement of Morani and the contents of taped conversations between Shakeel and Rizvi wherein Shah’s name crops up with regularity.

Most of the material which the police claims incriminates Shah, is concealed in spools of conversation recorded in the one month between late October and November 2000. In those tapes, police sources say, Rizvi and Shakeel are heard repeatedly discussing how Shah would arrange to send the Rs 75 lakh to Shakeel. To corroborate this, police have Morani’s statement that he had paid the money as part of a Rs one crore pay-out to Shakeel.

According to these sources, the police will be able to establish, through these tapes, that Bharat Shah knew Shakeel and had in fact got in touch with him on some earlier occasions. One example they quote is what Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal disclosed to reporters on Monday. Bhujbal had said that Shah had made arrangements to send $ 50,000 to Shakeel through one Bhatija based in Dubai. Sources said Shakeel was told that the same person who had delivered money earlier would do so this time too and he would use the password ‘‘five’’. The use of the words ‘‘same person’’, police sources say, meant that such transactions were carried out before also.

The Crime Branch, however, continued its search for more evidence on Tuesday. The searches that began at the B4U office on Monday night (the company said the police merely made enquiries and left) continued elsewhere in the morning. In massive search operation, more than two dozen crime branch officers went through some business premises owned by Shah. The operations continued till late evening.

According to police sources, six officers attached to unit-II of the Crime Branch searched Shah’s residence at Swapnalok on Altamount Road in South Mumbai and his office, VIP Enterprises, near Naaz Cinema. Another squad swooped down on the some of Shah’s premises located at the diamond bourse located at Panchratna Building near Opera House in the morning.

Joint Commissioner of Police (detection) D Sivanandhan said that they could not reveal the outcome of the searcges as it would hamper investigations.

Speaking at the annual press conferance, Commissioner of Police M N Singh said that the police did not wish to bring the tinsel world or the business community under pressure by calling them for investigations or searching their premises. He was only trying to free Bollywood from the underworld’s stranglehold, he explained. ‘‘We are only trying to help the film personalities,’’ he said.

Addressing rumours in fildom that the police was not acting against films produced at the behest of Chhota Rajan and Abu Salem, Singh denied there was political interference in the case. ‘‘Right now we do not have concrete evidence. If we have evidence nobody will be spared,’’ he said.

It happened today
Bharat Shah was taken to J J Hospital on Monday night when he complained of chest pain but returned to spend the night in lock up. He was again rushed to hospital on Tuesday morning when his blood pressure apparently shot up.
Most shootings were cancelled in the city, including the Shahrukh Khan starrer Devdas. The movie is financed by Shah. A 15-day shooting schedule of jja, also financed by Shah, was cancelled. The unit was to leave for Hyderabad on Tuesday.
The special court hearing Shah’s plea to allow the release of Chori Chori Chupke Chupke has put off the case to January 15.
Diamond traders in Mumbai will observe a bandh on Wednesday.