Hours after former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi claimed that he became a target of the D-Company syndicate because he refused to facilitate illegal betting operations, Chhota Shakeel, a key operative of the gang and a top lieutenant of Dawood Ibrahim, denied the allegations as baseless and devoid of any substance, according to a report.
Shakeel said the D-Company never tried to assassinate or kidnap Lalit Modi or his relatives, saying targeting families is not in line with the syndicate's operational protocols. He added that any allegations linking its operations to the Indian Premier League (IPL) is completely erroneous, according to CNN-News18.
However, he acknowledged that the gang had a financial dispute with Modi over an outstanding payment and the D-Company had tried to recover those dues, reports the news outlet.
Earlier in an interview with ANI, Modi alleged that he received death threats from Dawood Ibrahim and the D-Company, because of which he permanently walked away from the IPL administration. He left India for the UK in 2010 amid financial investigations and has been living in London ever since.
Modi alleged that he was targeted by D-Company because he refused to facilitate illegal betting operations. He said in 2012, a London-based mediator put him on direct call with Dawood Ibrahim on a satellite phone. "I pissed in my pants, I'll tell you this. Without doubt. Right there and then. "He simply says, 'From now on, all your work is finished' and put down the phone," Modi told ANI.
Modi claimed that the D-Company believed that he owed them compensation as his decisions, including moving the 2009 IPL season to South Africa, had cost them heavily in the illegal betting market. "So they lost a lot of money apparently. They wanted me to make good that money. I didn't ask them to take the bet," he said.
He also claimed that his measures to block spot-fixing, ban suspicious individuals from stadiums and reject bribes worth hundreds of millions of dollars also angered the group.
When he was asked how the D-Company removed him from its hit list, Modi said his retirement from the cricketing world was the main reason. "I didn't [resolve it]. "I just said I will retire from cricket. I gave my word. I will retire," said Modi.
