Gutkha barons Rasiklal Dhariwal, Jagdish Joshi worked for Dawood Ibrahim: CBI

 Over a decade after gutkha barons Rasiklal Dhariwal and Jagdish Joshi came under the security agencies' radar for allegedly dealing with Dawood Ibrahim, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has now said that it was a "mutually beneficial relationship".

In its chargesheet filed last month, the CBI said Dhariwal, founder of Manikchand brand, and Joshi, a former business partner of Dhariwal's who branched out to launch Goa brand of gutkha, derived monetary benefits by associating themselves with Dawood. In return, the two helped Dawood in getting "massive monetary benefits", and also helped the don's bother, Anees Ibrahim, in setting up a gutkhamanufacturing unit in Pakistan, the chargesheet said.

While Anees was named an accused in the case more than a decade ago, the CBI has now included Dawood as one of the accused in the chargesheet. The don's brother-inlaw, Abdul Hamid Antulay, and a gang member, Salim Mohammed Ghaus Shaikh, are also named in the CBI chargesheet. Interestingly, Dhariwal and Joshi were not named in the police FIR and hence they were never arrested (they are presently out on an interim bail). The case was registered in 2004, and the CBI took over the probe the next year.

After the CBI submitted its chargesheet, Dhariwal's counsel, senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, and Joshi's counsel, advocate Ganesh Gole, said in separate pleas that the two had "never run away from law" despite the CBI taking ten years to file the chargesheet, and that was enough surety to allow their bail to continue.

The CBI, however, said in the chargesheet that Dhariwal was associated with Dawood since 1996, when he was supplying gutkha to a front company called



Golden Box Trading, floated by Dawood. From 1995-'96 to 2001, transactions carried out between Dhariwal and Dawood's company amounted to over Rs 100 crore, the chargesheet said, adding that Dhariwal earned around Rs 35 crore from this association during that period.

The CBI further said that Dhariwal took his dispute with Jagdish Joshi to Dawood for a settlement. According to the chargesheet, Joshi was promised shares worth more than Rs 250 crore by Dhariwal when the two were partners, but the latter arm-twisted Joshi using Dawood's clout, and paid only Rs 11 crore in lieu of the shares. The settlement was overseen by Dawood himself in Karachi in September 1999, the chargesheet said.

The chargesheet also divulged details of how Joshi was assaulted by Dawood's brother-in-law Antulay and Salim Shaikh in Dubai in August 1999 when he refused to settle the matter with Dhariwal. The CBI has also said that Dhariwal travelled to Karachi "using Dawood's channels" as instructed by the don, because of which his passport shows exit from Dubai and a return a day later, but doesn't specify where did he go and come back from. "In this final settlement meeting, Joshi agreed to help Anees set up a gutkha manufacturing unit in Hyderabad, Pakistan," the chargesheet said.The CBI has also accused Joshi of "kidnapping" a person who specialised in making pouches to pack gutkha. The person, whose identity has not being revealed as he is a witness, said he was taken to Pakistan after being told he was needed in Bangkok. "He was met by an ISI agent in UAE and taken to Anees's gutkha manufacturing unit in Pakistan's Hyderabad. He was confined to the servants' quarters and wasn't allowed to even talk to his family. Finally, when he was allowed to return to India to see his newborn, Anees's aides kept threatening him to go back to Pakistan," the chargesheet said.