Dawood Ibrahim's key operative 'Munna Jhingada' in focus: How arrest of 9 terror suspects in Delhi unearthed Mumbai underworld link

MUMBAI: The arrest of nine alleged terror suspects by the Delhi Police’s special cell has unearthed a Mumbai underworld connection, with investigators focusing on the role of Muddasar Hussain Sayyed, alias Munna Jhingada, a close aide of fugitive gangster Chhota Shakeel and a key operative of the underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.The module was being handled by Jhingada, a development that has once again brought into focus the long-alleged nexus between Dawood Ibrahim’s criminal syndicate and Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the ISI. Officials said it indicates attempts by him to re-establish his relevance within the shrinking D-Company network.Jhingada’s criminal history is closely linked to the gang war between Dawood Ibrahim and his former lieutenant Chhota Rajan. A notorious shooter from Mumbai’s Jogeshwari area, Jhingada, emerged as one of the most trusted operatives of Chhota Shakeel.His notoriety grew following the failed assassination attempt on Chhota Rajan in Bangkok in 2000. Acting on Shakeel's instructions, Jhingada and other gang members travelled to Thailand and launched a deadly attack on Rajan. While Rajan survived with injuries, his close aide Rohit Verma was killed.The attack forced Rajan into hiding for nearly two years and marked a major escalation in the violent feud between the rival underworld factions.Thai authorities subsequently arrested Jhingada and sentenced him to 10 years in prison for Rohit Verma’s murder.What followed was an extraordinary legal battle spanning nearly two decades over his nationality and eventual deportation. Jhingada had entered Thailand on a Pakistani passport under the name Mohammed Saleem. Pakistan maintained that he was a Pakistani national, while India asserted that he was an Indian citizen from Mumbai and a senior member of the Dawood-Shakeel syndicate.Although Thai courts initially ruled in favour of India's extradition request, years of legal proceedings culminated in Thailand handing Jhingada over to Pakistan in 2019 after accepting Islamabad's claim that he was a Pakistani citizen. The decision dealt a significant setback to India's efforts to bring him back for prosecution.The origins of Jhingada's case can be traced to the split between Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan in the aftermath of the 1993 Mumbai riots and serial bomb blasts.Rajan, who opposed Dawood's alleged proximity to Pakistan's ISI after the blasts, broke away from D-Company and established his own criminal network in Southeast Asia. When Rajan carried out the killing of Nepalese politician and Dawood associate Dilshad Mirza Beg in Nepal, Chhota Shakeel dispatched a hit squad that included Jhingada to eliminate Rajan in Bangkok.