Why the terror tag is bad news for the D-company

Police say the gang’s grip, which extended over the hawala business, gold smuggling, narcotics, real estate, even Bollywood and politics, will certainly weaken now.

‘‘His associates are likely to begin distancing from him as a fallout of the branding. Over a period of time, they may withdraw all the money invested with the gang,’’ says Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime) Pradip Sawant.

Dawood depends on a hierarchy-based network which he runs like a chain of franchisees. The name ‘Dawood’ inspires awe and terror: his lieutenants use his mythic status to strike extremely profitable deals or settle acrimonious disputes.

Key lieutenants located across Asia such as Sheikh Shekeel Babu Mohideen Sheikh alias Chhota Shakeel and Fahim Ahmed Sharif alias Machmuch Fahim depend on reliable communication links to keep the big boss informed of their activities and to coordinate a strike force comprising pistol-wielding hitmen.

For example, when the owner of a popular cloth store in south Mumbai ran into a dispute over financial dealings with the D-Company, it was not long before Shakeel’s shooters brazenly gunned him down in a shopping area near Crawford Market.

The impunity with which his men operated has anyway been a thing of the past since 9/11. But with assets frozen and more stringent travel curbs likely to be in place, the Don’s operations would be blunted, say officials.

The finances of the D-Company will also be hit if lieutenants are unable to instruct their frontline hitmen to carry out threats. Even hawala is under intense scrutiny now with recent meetings between US Treasury officials and Indian officials over suspected financing from Dubai and the UAE.

Significantly, Dawood’s trips to the Gulf are expected to end because of the US listing as very few countries would be willing to provide him sanctuary. If he is confined to Pakistan, it would prevent Mumbai-based sympathisers from meeting him overseas. ‘‘Calls made by the D-Company network will come under the surveillance of the United States and other friendly countries. This will cut their links with recruits,’’ says a crime branch officer, ‘‘Clout exercised by his family will be reduced once his communication network is destroyed.’’ The tag of a terrorist will threaten the tenuous links with drug cartels between the Golden Crescent and Golden Triangle—profits from narcotic rings form a huge chunk of the Company’s coffers.

While the crackdown would take many forms, Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) Satya Pal Singh says the D-Company’s gangsters may continue to be prosecuted under the same laws as earlier and are unlikely to be identified as terrorists. ‘‘The police may have to deal with them under the provisions of the MCOCA,’’ says Singh.

The man himself, having been chargesheeted as the mastermind of the 1993 serial bomb blasts, is unlikely to share the same fate. ‘‘A red corner alert has been issued against Dawood. He will be tried for terrorist activities if deported to India,’’ says Commissioner of Police R S Sharma.