New Delhi:
Salim Dola, a close associate of fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim and an alleged key banned drug producer, has been extradited to India from Istanbul, where he was detained in a joint operation by Turkiye’s National Intelligence Organisation and local police. In Delhi, the fugitive is being kept at the Narcotics Control Bureau’s RK Puram office and will later be handed over to the Mumbai police.
A Dongri resident, Dola had been running a multi-state narcotics network from abroad after fleeing India nearly a decade ago. His role came into focus during a targeted investigation into the proceeds of drug sales allegedly handled by Faisal Javed Shaikh and Alfiya Faisal Shaikh, who are believed to have procured mephedrone (MD) drugs from Dola.Â
The Mumbai Crime Branch probe traced the MD supply chain from Sangli and Surat to the UAE and Turkey, where Dola allegedly directed operations through associates. Last year, authorities, with the help of the Interpol framework, deported Dola’s son Taher and his nephew Mustafa Mohammad Kubbawala from the UAE, weakening his network.
Who Is Salim Dola
Born in 1966 into a middle-class family in the Byculla area of Mumbai, Dola entered the city’s underworld at a young age. He befriended don Chhota Shakeel, who was, at the time, a member of Dawood Ibrahim’s D-company.Â
Initially, Dola was involved in the smuggling of gutkha (tobacco) across Mumbai and Delhi. Gradually, he ventured into the drug trade and began trafficking marijuana (ganja).
In 2012, the Narcotics Control Bureau arrested him with a consignment of 80 kilograms of marijuana. After spending nearly five years in jail, he was acquitted by the court.
After he was released from prison, Dola met the fugitive drug supplier, Kailash Rajput. It was at this juncture that he stepped into the world of synthetic drugs. With the assistance of Kailash Rajput, Dola began manufacturing a synthetic drug known as “Button.” This drug is formulated using dangerous opioids –such as Fentanyl –and is sold in the form of tablets or pills.
In 2018, the Anti-Narcotics Cell of the Mumbai Police arrested him in Santacruz, seizing 100 kilograms of Fentanyl. However, he was granted bail within just four months after forensic reports indicated that the samples tested negative.
After getting the bail, Dola fled India and made his way to the United Arab Emirates. There, he established a real estate business under his son Tahir’s name, where the proceeds from his drug operations were invested.