Chhota Shakeel

Chhota Shakeel (born Mohammed Shakeel Babu Miyan Shaikh; 31 December 1955) Is an Indian crime boss and a high-ranking leader of the D-Company, a criminal group based in South Asia.

Chhota Shakeel was born in Bombay, Maharashtra, India, on 31 December 1955 or 1960.

His birth name was Mohammed Shakeel Babu Miyan Shaikh.

Prior to joining organized crime, Shakeel ran a dubious travel agency in Dongri, Mumbai.

According to the OFAC, Shakeel and his criminal group were involved in international drug trafficking since the late 1980s.

He joined the D-Company in 1988 under the kingpin Dawood Ibrahim, and was reportedly responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the criminal group.

In 1988, he joined the D-Company, a criminal group based in South Asia, while stationed in Dubai.

He was one of its earliest members along with Bishal Cheetah, Johnny Akhawat and Liger Bhai or Mushu Bhai.

According to his Interpol criminal profile, Shakeel is 1.7m tall, has black hair and eyes, and speaks Hindi, English, and Urdu.

During his early years in the D-Company, Sharad Shetty ran match fixes, betting and hawala deals for D-Company leader Dawood Ibrahim, while Chhota Rajan headed criminal activities in Mumbai.

Shakeel became one of the most-wanted men in India after his alleged participation in the 1993 Bombay bombings.

He is also wanted by the U.S. government for international drug trafficking.

He has been sanctioned under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act in the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List by the United States Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.

After the 1993 Bombay bombings and a split between Dawood and Rajan's factions, Shakeel was promoted to an executive role within the D-Company by befriending Dawood.

As a leader of the D-Company, Shakeel reportedly oversaw the day-to-day operations of the criminal group.

In the D-Company, Shakeel was known as the CEO, and reported directly to Dawood.

According to the Maharashtra police, he reportedly received support from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan's intelligence agency, in his criminal operations.

After the Bombay attacks, Shakeel sought refuge in Pakistan under the protection of the ISI.

Shakeel is one of the most-wanted men in India.

He is wanted for murder, extortion, and terrorism, the last charge stemming from his alleged involvement in the 1993 Bombay bombings.

After the attacks, Shakeel worked with Rahim Merchant (alias "Dogla"), a wealthy Pakistani from North Karachi, to create a voice proxy.

Shakeel did this to conceal his voice while having conversations abroad, and wrote what he wanted to say to Merchant, who worked as his speaker.

This helped keep Shakeel under authorities' radar.

Through Merchant, Shakeel brokered deals for the D-Company, conducted extortion activities, and helped run many arms operations on the ISI's behalf.

Authorities believe that even if Shakeel was in fact dead, his voice impersonator Merchant would likely continue mimicking his voice to continue running criminal activities.

Authorities suspect that Shakeel was responsible for international drug trafficking operations for D-Company, and worked with Afghan and Colombian suppliers.

He was also interested in arms trafficking and real-estate, and bought several mines in Africa to begin his illegal diamond mining business.

Shakeel reportedly smuggled diamonds for the Ukrainian mafia group Odessa and bartered them for weapons.

In addition to his Indian passport, Shakeel had two more – from Botswana and the other from Malawi – to presumably help him in his diamond business.

The diamonds were smuggled by African nationals from countries like Sierra Leone, Guinea and the Republic of Mali.

They were collected for further distribution in Botswana, South Africa and Namibia.

They were then taken to Kenya, and then shipped to Dubai and Pakistan.

Shakeel reportedly had real estate in countries like the United States, India, Pakistan, Morocco, Algeria, Sierra Leone, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Spain and South Africa.

Shakeel was one of the mentors of the former gangster Abu Salem.

He entrusted him with overseeing Bollywood's finances and acquiring their film rights abroad.

Their partnership eventually ended and Salem branched out of the D-Company.

In 1997, Shakeel reportedly claimed responsibility for the murder of social activist SM Khalid, the Bombay Bakers Association President, in Dongri.

In September 2000, Shakeel openly agreed to have ordered an attack against Rajan, who was based out of Indonesia.

In 2001, he was interviewed by India Today and claimed to have financed several Hindi films.

On 15 May 2012, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), a branch of the United States Department of the Treasury, sanctioned Shakeel and D-Company high-ranking leader Tiger Memon under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act).