Name Shabir Kaskar | ||
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Nephews Moin Ibrahim, Danish Parkar, Aiman Hasan Parents Ibrahim Kaskar, Amina bi Kaskar Nieces Mahrukh Ibrahim, Maria Ibrahim, Mehreen Ibrahim, Kaniz Fatima, Qudsiya Parkar Similar | ||
Saabir Ibrahim Kaskar (?–February 12, 1981) was a notorious Indian criminal based in Mumbai. He was the elder brother of Dawood Ibrahim, the current gang leader of the D-Company. The rise of Saabir and Dawood in Mumbai's underworld and the sympathetic attitude of the Mumbai police towards them evoked the jealosy and resentment of other established gang members from the Pathan gang that dominated South Mumbai area. Finally the inter-gang rivalry grew to such an extent that Samad Khan, the nephew of Karim Lala and his assistants Amirzada and Alamzeb plotted to kill Saabir and Dawood. On 12 February 1981, they shot dead Saabir at a petrol pump in Prabhadevi. The murder of Saabir is an important chapter in Mumbai's underworld as it unleashed a gruesome gang war between Dawood Ibrahim gang and the Pathan gang leading to a spate of shootouts until the retired don Karim Lala requested a truce and eventually the Pathan gang's dominance was replaced by the Dawood Ibrahim gang.
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Early life and entry into crime
Saabir Ibrahim Kaskar, the son of a police head constable Ibrahim Kaskar, hailed from Mumka village in Ratnagiri district, Konkan region in the Indian state of Maharashtra in 1955. He belongs to the Konkani Muslim community.
His father Ibrahim Kaskar was a police constable in the CID department at Azad Maidan police station. The family had 8 children and was perennially impoverished. Saabir and his younger brother, Dawood were school dropouts and often spent their days wandering in the streets of Dongri- Bhendi Bazar. In those days, people lived in fear and awe of Karim Lala, the leader of the Pathan gang and Haji Mastan, the smuggler who enjoyed a cult following among the impoverished Muslim youths in south Mumbai including Saabir and Dawood. Soon Saabir and Dawood joined in petty street crime of selling smuggled electronics goods and watches. They often cheated gullible travellers and got involved in street brawls. Saabir, Dawood and their friends called their group, "Young Company". They would hang out near Crawford Market in search of gullible travellers and offer them smuggled Rolex watches for a measely price compared to the actual cost. After the buyer paid them in cash, they would pretend to wrap the watch in a small paper or cloth and tell the buyer not to open it to avoid police suspicion. Actually it would be a stone instead of the watch. They called this activity "alta-palti". If the buyer found out that he had been cheated and accosted them, they would intimidate him with the help of burly Pathan hoodlums from the neighbourhood. Their father requested Haji Mastan to give his wastrel sons decent employment. On Mastan's instructions, they worked in an electronic shop at Manish Market for some time but very soon they were back to their petty crime and mob fights. Soon they found their way into the Pathan gang where they did odd jobs often transporting contraband and illegal goods from one place to another.
Rivalry with the Pathan gang and death
The Pathan gang was run by Samad Khan, the eccentric nephew of Karim.Lala. He was supported by his Pathan cronies like Amirzada, Alamzeb, Jangrez, Saeed Batla and Ayub Lala. Saabir and Dawood were often sidelined and confined to menial jobs like transporting smuggled consignments from one place to the other. The Ibrahim brothers would also work for Haji Mastan and other gangsters. Being the sons of a police constable and their ability to speak Marathi helped them to seek the sympathy and support of many policemen and Maharashtrian gangsters.
It is said that some policemen decided to use the Ibrahim brothers to combat the supremacy of the Pathan gang by turning a deaf ear to complaints against them. In return, the Ibrahim brothers would sometimes tip-off the police on the illegal transactions of the Pathan gang. Their journalist friend, Iqbal Naatiq also encouraged them to oppose the intimidating tactics of the Pathan gang. This created a rift between the Ibrahim brothers and Samad Khan. Samad Khan believed that Iqbal Naatiq had tipped-off the police about his illegal gambling and liquor dens which were raided by the police. He got Naatiq killed. Naatiq's murder inspired Saabir and Dawood to revolt against the Pathan gang. They seized control of some of the Pathan gang activities and began operating an independent gang called the Young Company that encroached the areas of the Pathan gang. Although Haji Mastan had warned both groups not to clash with each other, tensions reached to such an extent that in 1981, Samad Khan decided to eliminate Saabir and Dawood to regain control of the underworld in South Mumbai.
Saabir was already married and expecting his first child. However he also had a girlfriend called Chitra, a dancer at Congress House in Kamathipura.
On February 12, 1981, Saabir and Chitra drove out from Kamathipura in a Fiat car heading towards Bandra. They were unaware that they were being followed by the Pathan gang members.
The chase began at Haji Ali and the Pathans closed in on their target when the Fiat halted at a petrol pump opposite the Siddhi Vinayak temple in Prabhadevi. It was past midnight and Saabir was aghast to see Samad Khan, Amirzada, Alamzeb and Jangrez Khan standing outside his car. Amirzada asked Chitra to step out of the car and leave the scene. The four men then pumped five bullets into Saabir, leaving him lifeless in the car.
An hour later the Pathans were at Pakmodia Street. The plan was to take Dawood by surprise even before the news of his brother’s death could reach him. But Dawood’s key associate Khaled Pehalwan who was guarding Pakmodia Street recognised the vehicle used by the Pathans. The huge steel door to Dawood’s house was shut seconds before the rival gang resorted to indiscriminate firing. Gunshots rent the neighbourhood as both gangs engaged in gunfire and abuse. Dawood escaped and planned to take revenge. He offered a big supari (contract for killing) to kill Samad, Amirzada and Alamzeb. The first one to go was Amirzada who was shot dead in the Mumbai sessions court in September 1983 by a member from the Bada Rajan gang. After Amirzada's death, Dawood evaded police arrest and escaped to Dubai. Alamzeb was gunned down in Vadodara by the Gujarat police in an encounter. Finally in October 1984, Samad Khan was shot dead in south Mumbai by members of the Rama Naik gang.
In popular culture
Manoj Bajpai's character Zubair Imtiaz Haksar in the film, Shootout at Wadala was based on Saabir Ibrahim Kaskar. Shootout at Wadala initially premier the name as Saabir Ibrahim Kaskar on their promos. which later on changed to Zubair Imtiaz Haksar.