Mumbai: Three properties belonging to fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim were sold to the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT) for over Rs 11 crore at an auction in Mumbai on Tuesday. A Smuggling and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act (SAFEMA) official has confirmed to a leading media house that the three properties, which also included a restaurant in Bhendi Bazar, were sold to the SBUT at the auction at the Indian Merchant Chamber office.
The Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT) had made the highest bid for the three sealed properties of the fugitive don.
Officials said that the Rounaq Afroz restaurant, also known as Delhi Zaika, was sold for Rs 4.53 crore. A second property in Damarwala was sold for Rs 3.53 crore while Shabnam Guest House fetched a price of Rs 3.52 crore.
“Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust has won the auction for three properties of Dawood Ibrahim. The trust won the auction for Shabnam Guest House, six flats in Damarwala building and a restaurant Rounaq Afroz,” a SBUT spokesperson said
“The three properties fall under our ongoing Bhendi Bazaar redevelopment project. These buildings are in dilapidated condition and unfit for living. Therefore to ensure safety of the families living in these buildings and to carry on with redevelopment project, we participated in the bidding and acquired these properties,” the spokesperson said.
After Dawood fled India in the 1990s, properties belonging to him and his associates were seized under the provisions of Smuggling and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act, also known as SAFEMA.
The authorities decided to auction these properties in a phased manner. However, past auctions of the gangster’s properties drew a cold response from bidders, apparently due to fear factor.
