Four ancestral properties in Maharashtra, belonging to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, finally found a buyer at the recent auction conducted by the Union government.
The plots were part of the Kaskar family’s ancestral properties, and was attached in 1990. Dawood and the ‘D-Company’ attained notoriety after the 1993 Mumbai bombings in which 257 people were killed and 700 injured.
The March 5 auction was conducted under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act (SAFEMA). All four plots are located in Mumbake village in Ratnagiri, Ibrahim’s ancestral place, and some of them were earlier registered in the name of his mother, Amina Bi. One of the plots—Survey Number 442 (Part 13-B)— got the highest bid of over ₹10 lakh, against the reserve price of ₹9.41 lakh. There were two bidders for it, one from Mumbai and one from Ratnagiri, but the winning bid was by the former.
The remaining three plots—Survey Numbers 533, 453 and 617—were sold at their respective reserve prices of ₹2.33 lakh, ₹8.08 lakh and ₹15,440. There was only one bidder for the three plots. Report suggest that it was the same Mumbai-based bidder who successfully bid for these three plots, too.
The Union government made efforts in 2017, 2020, 2024, and 2025 to auction the properties, but no bidders showed interest, primarily because of the link to Dawood and the 'D-Company', and also because of their remote location and restrictions limiting the use of these plots to agriculture. In November last year, the reserve price was reportedly reduced by 30 per cent, but it failed to attract buyers again.
The recent auctions reminded one of Delhi-based lawyer Ajay Shrivastava, who has been linked to auctions of Dawood’s properties in the past. In 2001, he acquired his industrial unit in Tardeo, but is yet to get possession. The matter is pending in court.
In 2020, he acquired Dawood's ancestral bungalow in Mumbake village for ₹11.2 lakh. Four years later, he bid a whopping ₹2.01 crore for a small plot (Survey Number 617), against a reserve price of just ₹15,440. Another piece of land, survey no. 842 (Hissa no. 13-B), measuring 1730 square meters, fetched a bid of ₹3.28 lakh against a reserve price of ₹1,56,270. However, the deal was cancelled due to the non-payment of dues.
Shrivastava has said that he intends to build a "Sanatan Dharma Pathshala" (school) on these lands to send a message that the gangster's influence is dead.
