S African businessman waits in the wings

S African businessman waits in the wings
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

MUMBAI, JAN 11: "I am not participating because I don't have the minimum required amount, Rs 25,000. They have asked me to wait till the auction is over so that I can try to buy some unsold properties,'' said fifty-year-old Mukkadam whose parents originally came from Ratnagiri and had settled down in Cape Town more than fifty years ago. How did he come to know about the auction? ``I want my parents' properties to be transfered in my name. A case in this regard is pending in the Bombay High Court. I was in the court this afternoon where I read the news about auction and immediately rushed to the auction venue,'' Mukkadam said.

Asked if he had any fears about buying Dawood Ibrahim's property, he said, ``I fear Allah, not Dawood Ibrahim or anybody else. I want to buy some property in Mumbai and, I think, this is the easiest way.''He revealed his name only after the Income Tax officials had addressed the media.

The drama then shifted to the Silver Room of Hotel Diplomat once an officer from the IT department called mediapersons in for a briefing. Vimal Dalal, auction officer of Embassy's Auction Centre, said he had asked for special police protection in and around the auction venue. In fact, the hotel seemed like a fortress with policemen cordonning off all roads leading to the hotel.

``We had asked Mumbai Police Commissioner M N Singh to check any activity which could sabotage the auction. It passed off peacefully,'' said additional commissioner of Income Tax Syed Mohammed Ashraf.