Mumbai, May 13 (IANS) Mumbai Crime Branch on Wednesday took custody of Salim Dola, an alleged close aide of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, for further interrogation in connection with the 2024 Sangli MD drug manufacturing case valued at approximately Rs 253 crore.

Salim Dola is scheduled to be produced before a court on Wednesday, following the Crime Branch’s plea seeking his custody for further investigation into the narcotics racket.

According to officials, in March 2024, investigators raided an illegal drug manufacturing facility in Sangli and seized 122 kg of MD drugs along with cash and gold collectively valued at approximately Rs 253 crore. During the operation, six persons were arrested, including Pravin Shinde, who allegedly operated the illegal factory.

Mumbai Police said that Salim Dola allegedly financed the MD drug manufacturing units and supervised the transportation network linked to the narcotics operation.

Crime Branch Unit 7 had earlier arrested Taher Dola and Kubbawala after their extradition from Dubai in connection with the same case. Officials have now formally taken custody of Salim Dola from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) to further probe the international drug trafficking network.

Salim Dola was lodged in Arthur Road Jail before being taken into custody by the Crime Branch after the Special NDPS Court granted the agency’s plea seeking his custodial interrogation.

Dola, 59, a resident of Mumbai, was the subject of an Interpol Red Corner Notice issued at India’s request in March 2024. He was wanted for prosecution in multiple narcotics trafficking cases and had been absconding from Indian law enforcement agencies for several years.

Dola’s two-decade-long criminal record includes direct involvement in high-value seizures of heroin, charas, mephedrone, Mandrax, and methamphetamine in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Investigations consistently identified Dola as a bulk supplier to downstream drug distribution networks in India. He was also wanted by the Gujarat ATS and the Mumbai Police.

Earlier, his son, Taher Salim Dola, along with other associates, was arrested by Mumbai Police after extradition from the UAE in 2025.

–IANS

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