Special NIA Court Refuses To Discharge 'D-Company Member'

The special NIA court has refused to discharge a man, who is accused in a terror funding case and said to have close links with the Dawood Ibrahim gang. Vaid from Andheri was arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Squad in August 2022 for allegedly possessing a huge quantity of narcotics.

As per the prosecution, he diverted the crime proceeds to D-company to fund terror activities against India. During Vaid's house search, the police had seized two phones and the data recovered from them revealed that he was in contact with an international terrorist based in Dubai through Signal app, the prosecution contended.

Rejecting the allegations, Vaid’s lawyers Samsher Garud and Vighnesh Iyer contended that no narcotic substance was recovered from their client's house. They further argued that the accused and the other person just shared photos of drugs on the Signal app. Mere sharing of such pictures is not crime, the defence asserted.

The court, however, refused to accept these arguments and relied on the statement of the witnesses. According to the testimonies, Vaid along with one of the witnesses and other associates fired at the office of J M Joshi, owner of gutkha company, in 2000-2001. The attack was carried out at the behest of Dawood's brother Anees Ibrahim, said the witnesses.

The court said that there is material available which shows Vaid's involvement in collecting and sending money (to D-company) and engaging in acts related to the gang. “The statements of witnesses are also supported by documentary evidence like bank slips and entries in the statement of account,” the court said. Thus, there is sufficient prima facie material on record in respect of the accused's involvement in offences registered against him, it added.