Mumbai, February 21: Going hi-tech in the cyber world of online payments, gangster Dawood Ibrahim's incarcerated gang member Salim Fruit's close aide Sayyed Zakir Hussain and his two sons been booked by the Mumbai for extortion rackets run on Gpay and Paytm. Salim Fruit, brother-in-law of fugitive gangster Chhota Shakeel, has been arrested for terror funding and extortion by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
History sheeter Sayyed Zakir Hussain, popular with the moniker Zakir dot com for collecting extortion and protection (hafta) racket payments on Gpay and Paytm linked to his mobile numbers and bank accounts, had spread a reign of terror threatening civil contractors, hawkers and small businesses around Malad Malvani region.
Extortion Racket Being Run In Many Parts Of Mumbai:
Zakir dot com and his sons Amir and Umer ran a well oiled network of extortion rackets collecting haftas and extortion online spread over Malad, Malvani, Chincholi and Gorai region threatening small contractors, eateries, garage owners, hawkers and small shops demanding Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000 every week for over five years until their luck ran out and a civil contractor Salim Shaikh fed up with the constant threats and harassment mustered courage and filed complaint with the Malvani Police station on Tuesday afternoon.
According to senior police officials, Zakir dotcom was on the radar of the crime branch for several months but no complainant was ready to come forward to register case against the gangster fearing reprisal from the Dawood gang associates.
Zakir Took Over Gang's Activities After Salim Fruit's Arrest:
“Zakir is a petty criminal taking over the gang activities after the arrest of Salim Fruit. He took protection money and ran an extortion racket targeting small vulnerable businesses too scared of filing police complaints. The extortion payments were taken on gpay and paytm linked to his mobile and bank accounts which prove his criminal involvement,” said the police officer.
The civil contractor Salim Shaikh was forced to pay Rs 25,000 every week on gpay account linked to Zakir dotcom mobile number since January 2021 to continue business in Malad region. Salim paid over Rs 8.95 lakhs over four years period with constant threats for payments even during covid pandemic lockdown. “I had no work and could barely feed my own family but Zakir and his sons did not relent and continued to threaten to make payments on their gpay accounts,” alleged Salim Shaikh.
The Malvani police and the crime branch immediately swung into action after the FIR was filed and launched a manhunt for the absconding Zakir dotcom and his sons.
