A Review of “Dial D for Don: Inside Stories of CBI Missions”

Dial D for Don chronicles adventures of a decorated Police Officer. The facts are intense. At the centre of it all is The Don. The Don always sells. And this book too will earn from his name, for the most part. There are other stories too. “Operation Desert Safari“, detailing the rescue of Thekkat Siddique from 12/22 Sarvapriya Vihar, New Delhi on 18th March, 2001 is the best of the lot.

Fun Facts:

• Neeraj Kumar has lauded Chandrakant Patil v. CBI, (1998) 3 SCC 38. “An enhancement of the Sentence of an Appellant by the Apex Court, and, that too by 100 percent, is a rarity in the history of the Indian Judiciary” (pp. 74). 
• “The first formal case ever registered in connection with Match Fixing in Cricket was in England in October 1999 by the New Scotland Yard” (pp. 251). It was allegedly planned to pre-determine the outcome of the 3rd Test between England and New Zealand played at Old Trafford, Manchester between 5th and 9th August, 1999. 
• The Don had an interesting anecdote to share about Sanjay Dutt. “When I asked Dawood if he could deny Anees sending weapons to Sanjay Dutt, he confirmed that the film star had indeed been sent arms by his younger brother. However, that he had nothing to do with the blasts. Sanjay Dutt had come in close contact with Anees Ibrahim during the shooting of the film Yalgaar in Dubai… Later when Dawood learnt that Anees had sent weapons to Sanjay Dutt without his knowledge and approval, he had beat up Anees black and blue” (pp. 82).

Interesting to Note,

Sanjay Dutt’s Confession, 26.04.1993

“…In December, 1991, I had given dates for shooting to actor producer Feroz Khan for his film Yalgaar. He had taken the whole unit for shooting in Dubai. During one of the shootings, Firoz Khan introduced me to one Mr. Dawood Ibrahim and also to his brother Anees during another shooting session. After that, Anees used to visit us regularly during the shootings and also at the place of our stay. Since Anees used to come frequently, I become well acquainted with him…”

S. Hussain Zaidi, My Name is Abu Salem

“The plan entailed first picking up the saaman at Bhiwandi, hauling it across the city to Bandra and handing it over. The package would have to be delivered directly to Sanjay, in person, at his Pali Hill residence, Ajanta. It all seemed simple enough…

Sanjay greeted the party at the gate… Salem was speechless at the star’s affectionate and humble greeting…

Sanjay and Salem were of course good friends once upon a time… Salem in complete awe of Sanjay and the star enjoying the attention…

Salem had heard it was Sanjay who had tipped Shakeel off about his expected presence at the event…A few months later Salem organized four gunmen ‘to take care of’ Sanjay. The actor was in Goa at the time, along with friend and director of Kaante, Sanjay Gupta, known to him as Gups. Salem’s instruction to his boys were clear: Go after Sanjay and kill him in Goa or at Mumbai Airport upon his return… When Gups asked Akbar Khan to intervene, the latter agreed. They managed to reach Mumbai Airport and Khan ferried them across town in his Hyundai Santro, saving them from the wrath of Salem and his shooters…

Salem later boasted that he decided to forgive Sanjay because the actor had called him on his satellite phone (which used to cost Rs. 1000 per minute for a call) and tearfully sought his forgiveness. Salem would boast about this incident, saying to his audience that he had decided to forget Sanjay’s betrayal out of the goodness of his heart.“