New Delhi, Oct 30: In recent months, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has been cracking down heavily on the Dawood Ibrahim-linked drug network in India.

The arrests of Danish Chikna and Mohammed Salim Sheikh have dealt major blows to the Dawood network, and this has prompted the syndicate to look for newer avenues.

As Intelligence agencies continue to focus heavily on the networks in Maharashtra and neighbouring states, the D-Syndicate is looking to expand its networks in the northeastern and southern states of India.

Action would be taken similarly in these parts of the country. However, it is necessary to bust the networks in states such as Maharashtra and Gujarat, which have been the traditional playground of the syndicate for a long.

While Dawood Ibrahim has diversified his business in various parts of the country, the command centre remains in Maharashtra.

The people working for the network in this sector control the businesses across the country, and hence, breaking their backs first is important. This would eventually lead to the weakening of the networks in other parts of the country.

Operations in the northeastern and southern states are currently overseen by Haji Salim, an ISI stooge and a member of the Dawood network.

Salim has been playing a big part in the D-Syndicate after Dawood’s right-hand man, Chhota Shakeel, has gone mysteriously quiet.

With Dawood’s brother Anees Ibrahim put in charge of the International wing, which does business mostly in African nations, the onus of the Indian markets has largely fallen upon Salim.

According to Intelligence agencies, the ISI and syndicate have now instructed Salim to focus entirely on the southern and northeastern sector as they feel that there is a major potential.

The syndicate sees potential in the northeast owing to the existing routes from Myanmar. With Bangladesh opening up completely to the ISI, the syndicate sees further potential in this sector.

In the South, the syndicate’s network exists. However, this network has largely focused on smuggling drugs out of the country. The narcotics would first be smuggled into the southern states, especially Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and later, to the international markets such as Thailand through the Sri Lanka route.

An Intelligence Bureau official says that the syndicate is also looking to bring in more drugs through Sri Lanka before distributing it in the Indian market.

While the international market is huge for the syndicate, it is not ready to let go of India, as demand is huge.

The syndicate not just wants to cover its losses in Maharashtra, but also the ones it is incurring in Punjab.

Several attempts to bring in drugs through the Punjab route using both couriers and drones are failing owing to heavy scrutiny and security. Hence, the Dawood network wants to take maximum advantage of the southern route so that it can smuggle drugs in huge quantities and then distribute them to the Indian market.

To bring in drugs from the international market, the syndicate would use the route from Sri Lanka. The network would look to smuggle the consignment into Tamil Nadu and Kerala before supplying it into the Indian market.

According to officials, the network feels that this would be an easier route, as most of the consignments in the Indian market will be transported via land route.

The scrutiny at the southern international borders is relatively less when compared to the borders along Punjab or Jammu and Kashmir. Further, using the land route to smuggle drugs into India would also attract less scrutiny, and the syndicate hopes there would be more hits than misses.

Another official also pointed out that the D-Syndicate is also tapping into the illegal immigrants who have settled in South India in huge numbers. They could be used as carriers to supply the drugs into the Indian markets, officials also warned.

Mumbai: A constable attached to the Chembur police station was injured after being run over by a car during a routine night patrol late on Tuesday. The injured officer, identified as Constable Sachin Patil (40), is part of the police beat marshal team and has been serving in the Chembur division for the past two years. The incident occurred around 10:30 pm on Road No. 4 near Gandhi Maidan, an area frequently monitored for illegal activities during late-night hours.

According to police officials, Patil and his team were patrolling the area when they noticed a white WagonR parked by the roadside with two men seated inside. “When Patil approached and knocked on the car window to verify whether the occupants were consuming alcohol or drugs, they began behaving suspiciously. Suddenly, in an attempt to flee, the driver accelerated and ran the vehicle over Patil,” said an officer from the Chembur police station.

Patil sustained a leg injury in the incident and was immediately rushed to Rajawadi Hospital, where he received treatment before being discharged later in the night. He has been granted medical leave to recover fully from his injuries.

Following the attack, the police launched an intensive manhunt for the suspects. After several hours of tracing the vehicle through CCTV footage and local informers, officers tracked down and arrested the accused driver, identified as Mangesh Divte (35), a resident of Siddharth Colony, Chembur. The vehicle involved, the white WagonR, has been seized as part of the investigation.

Senior Police Inspector Rajesh Kewale of Chembur police station confirmed the arrest and said that the medical examination of Divte has been conducted, with results awaited to determine whether he was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident.

Divte has been booked under Section 109 (attempt to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for intentionally endangering the life of a police officer on duty. Meanwhile, his accomplice, who was in the car during the incident, remains absconding. “A search is underway to locate and arrest the second accused at the earliest,” Kewale said, according to the report.

Mumbai: The Mumbai Crime Branch’s probe into the fake Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) scientist case has widened, exposing a sophisticated document forgery racket spanning Mumbai, Delhi, and Jharkhand. The main accused, Akhtar Hussain Qutubuddin Ahmed alias Alexander Palmer (60) arrested from Versova’s Yari Road earlier this mont has now been linked to multiple fake identity operations involving his brother and other associates.

According to police sources, Delhi Police’s Special Cell has arrested Akhtar’s brother, Adil Husaini alias Syed Adil Hussain alias Mohammad Adil Husaini alias Naseemuddin, from the Seemapuri area of Delhi. Adil was found in possession of multiple fake passports and other forged documents. The Delhi Police confirmed that the arrest followed intelligence inputs shared by the Mumbai Crime Branch.

Investigations have revealed that Adil was deeply involved in creating fake passports and identity cards using counterfeit Aadhaar cards and supporting documents. One original and two forged passports were recovered from him. Preliminary findings indicate that Adil not only created these forgeries but also used them for international travel, including to Pakistan and other countries, raising suspicions of possible links with foreign atomic agencies.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai Police Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) has arrested another accused, Monazir Khan (34), from Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. He allegedly supplied forged documents including fake BARC ID cards, Aadhaar, and educational certificates to Akhtar Hussain. When produced before the court for the second time, Monazir was remanded to police custody until November 1, while Akhtar has been sent to judicial custody.

During interrogation, Akhtar had falsely claimed that his brother Adil was dead. His subsequent arrest in Delhi, however, disproved this.

Investigators suspect that Monazir Khan prepared Adil’s fake passport in 2016 using documents linked to an address in Jamshedpur that Akhtar had sold years earlier. The passport verification process reportedly failed to detect the discrepancy a lapse now under review by Jharkhand Police and passport authorities.

Further investigations have shown that Akhtar used at least three fake passports under the name Alexander Palmer, along with bogus PAN cards, Aadhaar cards, driving licences, and mark sheets from the Bihar Intermediate Education Board and Biju Patnaik University of Technology (Odisha). Authorities also recovered documents related to nuclear technology and maps suspected to contain sensitive data.

Forensic analysis of Akhtar’s phone revealed his use of advanced tools such as Super VPN Pro to mask his location while traveling under false identities across India and abroad since 2015.

A case has been registered at Versova Police Station under Sections 319(2), 336(2), 337, 338, and 340(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and Sections 61(2) and 12(1)(b) of the Passport Act. Both Mumbai and Delhi Police are coordinating with Jharkhand authorities to determine how these forged documents passed scrutiny and whether official collusion was involved.

Officials believe the case points to a high-level forgery network operating under the guise of scientific and government identities, raising concerns of potential national security breaches linked to the fake BARC credentials.