MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has refused bail to Habiba Hussain Khan, widow of a former Chhota Rajan gang member, accused of helping jailed gangster Yusuf Bachkana extort ₹50 lakh and two flats from a Panvel-based builder in 2021. The court held that prima facie material showed Khan gathered information about the builder and passed it on to Bachkana, who allegedly made threatening calls from prison.
Justice R M Joshi rejected Khan’s plea in the 2021 Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) case despite her having spent nearly five years in custody, observing that the conditions required for bail under the MCOCA were not satisfied.
The case is based on an FIR registered at Ghatkopar police station after businessman Dinesh Gandhi, linked to a redevelopment project in Panvel, alleged he received threat calls demanding ₹50 lakh or two flats in the project and warning him of serious consequences if he did not comply.
Investigators alleged the threats were made by Yusuf Suleman Kadri alias Yusuf Bachkana from Hindalga Central Jail in Karnataka, where he is serving a life sentence in a murder case. Bachkana was once considered a close aide of underworld figures Dawood Ibrahim and Ravi Pujari.
Police alleged Khan acted as Bachkana’s associate outside prison by visiting builders’ offices and project sites in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane posing as a prospective buyer, gathering details about developers and their finances, and sharing their contact details with Bachkana.
The prosecution told the court that Khan had collected details about the complainant and shared them with Bachkana through another co-accused, who has since died. Witness statements, including that of Khan’s daughter, and visiting cards allegedly recovered at her instance were relied upon to establish her connection with the organised crime syndicate.
Khan’s counsel argued that there was no direct evidence linking her to the extortion conspiracy and pointed out that she had remained in jail for nearly five years without the trial commencing. The defence also disputed the seizure procedure and said the visiting cards recovered from her did not belong to the complainant’s construction business.
Rejecting the submission, Justice Joshi observed, “There is prima facie evidence to show that the information with regard to the Informant was collected through the present Applicant and the co-accused gave extortion calls/messages to the Informant.”
The court said witness statements showing Khan visited the complainant’s office were corroborated by the recovery of visiting cards from her possession and evidence that the threatening calls originated from Bellary prison in Karnataka, where Bachkana was lodged.
The HC also noted that Khan had not denied making her confessional statement recorded under MCOCA or claimed it was involuntary, though she later sought to retract parts of it before a magistrate.
While dismissing the bail plea, the court directed that the trial be expedited and clarified that its observations were limited to deciding the bail application.
