A lawyer who purchased a plot of land linked to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim in Maharashtra for Rs 2 crore plans to convert it into a Sanatan school, he revealed yesterday. Ajay Srivastava, a former Shiv Sena leader, said the numerological significance of the property's survey number and purchase price played a key role in his decision.
I am a Sanatani Hindu and we follow our panditji, Srivastava explained. The survey number and the amount have a figure that goes in my favour according to numerology. I will start a Sanatan school on this plot after getting it converted.
This isn't Srivastava's first acquisition of Dawood's assets. He previously purchased three other properties belonging to the fugitive, including his childhood home in the same village where the plot is located.
In 2001, Srivastava, the sole bidder, bought two shops owned by Dawood in Mumbai's Nagpada at an auction. In 2020, he acquired Dawood's childhood home in Mumbake village, but the deed transfer is still pending due to document discrepancies. These errors have now been rectified, and Srivastava expects to receive the deed soon.
On Friday, two properties owned by the family members of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim were auctioned off. The auction was conducted by the competent authority under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act, as stated by an official. Four properties situated in Mumbke village, Khed tehsil of the coastal Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra, were put up for auction. However, there were no bids for two of the properties during the auction.
The other two properties received four and three bidders, respectively, and a single person emerged as successful bidder for both of them. One property, agricultural land measuring 170.98 sqmt, received the highest bid of Rs 2.01 crore against the reserve price of Rs 15,440.
Another property, an agricultural land measuring 1730 sqmt, received the highest bid of Rs 3.28 lakh, surpassing the reserve price of Rs 1,56,270, according to the official.