THREATS TO MLA

MCOCA invoked against 2 accused

S Ahmed Ali TNN

Mumbai: “You settle the matter peacefully or … Ram Gopal Verma will soon be making a film on you Ek Tha MLA”: This is one of texts allegedly sent by gangster Chhota Shakeel to legislator Baba Siddiqui.
    Bandra businessman Shams Ansari Sayyed (54) and Shakeel aide Ahmed Mansoor alias Langda (52) were arrested by the anti-extortion cell on Monday for threatening the Bandra MLA and the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act has been invoked in the case. TOI was first to report about the threats on June 30.
    Sayyed and Mansoor were produced before a MCOCA court and remanded in police custody till July 11. Joint police commissioner (crime) Himanshu Roy refused to elaborate. Mansoor, a former member of Dawood gang, was arrested in the 1993 serial bomb blasts case but later acquitted. He is a witness in the Chand Madar murder case in which he deposed against diesel smuggler Mohammed Ali. In his complaint, Siddiqui alleged that a piece of land on Hill Road had been under dispute for a while with a businessman who owns 20% of the plot. Siddiqui said he had received calls from the underworld asking him to settle the dispute amicably.The Dubai-based brother of Sayyed, Jabbar, is believed to have played a role in threatening Siddiqui, cops said.