CBI to quiz gutka baron
Dhariwal on Monday
NEW DELHI, APRIL 03, 2005
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will on
Monday quiz Rasiklal Manikchand Dhariwal, one of the
two gutka barons alleged to have links with the underworld.
The CBI is investigating the alleged nexus of Dhariwal,
owner of the Manikchand gutka (chewing tobacco) brand,
and Goa gutka's J.M. Joshi with underworld don Dawood
Ibrahim.
"We hope the case gains some momentum now and
we are able to arrive at something tangible after
all these months," a CBI official said.
Dhariwal and Joshi were business partners in the
early 1990s but had a bitter falling out. They are
alleged to have approached Dawood to mediate in the
settlement of dues in exchange for setting up a gutka
business for his younger brother Anees Ibrahim.
Both Dhariwal and Joshi are Non-Resident Indians
(NRIs). They had been evading interrogation, claiming
they would lose their NRI statu
Joshi returned to India from the United Arab Emirates
Feb 25 after a Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime
Act (MCOCA) court issued non-bailable warrants in
January and handed over the case to the CBI.
When a similar warrant was issued against Dhariwal,
his lawyers gave an undertaking in the Supreme Court
that he will appear before the CBI April 4.
The CBI has questioned Joshi four times and conducted
a lie-detector test.
"Joshi denies all the charges, but the idea
is to get both (the gutka barons) together,"
the official said.
Dhariwal was in the spotlight last year when he gifted
his daughter Jahnavi a Maybach worth $1.2 million
on her 21st birthday. IANS