The Rajasthan anti-terrorism squad on Sunday launched a probe into the suspected links of mob boss Dawood Ibrahim in the state, following the arrest of his aide Riyaz Bhati by the Mumbai police, an official said.
The ATS has started an investigation into the issuing of a passport to Bhati a member of the marketing committee of Mumbai Cricket Association from Jaipur in the name of Phoolji Bhati in 2007, said state anti-terrorism squad (ATS) chief Alok Tripathi.
We have sought a report from the Sikar district police and are also scanning records of the passport office to verify how he was issued a passport from here, he said. The ATS has sent an officer to Mumbai to get in touch with the police there to get more information on Bhati and his links in Rajasthan.
Tripathi said that the ATS will also probe Bhati’s alleged links with some jewellers in Jaipur and their involvement with the betting cartels in Dubai.
Bhati, a native of Hussain Ganj in Sikar district, shifted to Mumbai with family years ago. He was arrested by Mumbai police late on Wednesday, for possessing multiple passports.
He had got a passport from Mumbai in 1996 but applied for another from Jaipur in November 2005. An official said that the Sikar district police’s passport verification cell in February 2006 had turned down Bhati’s application on the ground that he lived in Mumbai.