This Dawood aide is the reason why the Indian movie industry lives in perpetual fear of a call from Bhai -- Bombay-speak for gangster. Like his mentor Dawood, Shakeel too has dabbled in all things nefarious -- murder, extortion, gunrunning -- but 'specialises' in extortion. And money-churner Bollywood is his favourite hunting ground.
Indian intelligence agencies say Shakeel is also an ISI agent. Shakeel has been charged with trying to kill Shiv Sena leader Milind Vaidya and planning assaults on film producer Ramesh Sharma and art director Sushankar Manjekar.
In an interview with India Today magazine in January 2001, Shakeel said, 'Today we are involved in everything -- from extorting money to financing films and helping whoever comes to us with genuine requests.'
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Also see: Bollywood and the underworld: The Bharat Shah case