Dawood Ibrahim ‘depressed’ as only son opts to become cleric

Absconding crime lord Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar is reportedly suffering from bouts of depression over who would look after and handle his vast underworld empire in the future, according to police officials.

The problem resulted following a family hurdle, which, despite his manpower and gunpower, he is unable to resolve, as his third child - and only son - Moin Nawaz D Kaskar, 31, turned his back on the “family business” to become a devout Muslim, reports NDTV.

Moin has chosen become a Maulana (a cleric-cum-religious teacher) at a mosque adjacent to his family's palatial bungalow in the fashionable Clifton area in the posh Saddar suburb of Karachi in Pakistan, Dawood's younger brother Iqbal Ibrahim Kaskar, who was nabbed by law enforcers in Mumbai in three extortion cases in September, said during interrogation.

Iqbal Kaskar told investigators that his nephew Moin is now a respected and qualified Maulana and a 'Hafiz-e-Quran', having memorised the entire Holy Quran which comprises of 6,236 verses.

His wife Saniya and their three children are also living with him in the small quarters provided by the mosque management, reports NDTV.

Moin teaches Holy Quran and Islamic preaching to young children, leads the call of prayers and congregation of 'namaz' at various occasions and other social-religious responsibilities associated with a cleric.

Iqbal also said that their other brother Anees Ibrahim Kaskar is now ageing and not in robust health, his other brothers are deceased and no reliable close relatives are available to take over the reins of Dawood Ibrahim’s empire.

Moin is against his father's illegal activities for which the entire family earned a notorious reputation worldwide, NDTV reports quoting Pradeep Sharma, head of Thane Anti-Extortion Cell and a former “encounter specialist” dreaded by the mafia.

He is practically estranged from the family and all its businesses for the past few years, however it is not clear whether he is on speaking terms with his father, Sharma said.

It is clear that Moin, who could have inherited his father's vast legal and illegal business empire, has decided to become a man of God and completely shunned a life of luxury which was at his command, he added.

Moin, a business management graduate, used to help out his father earlier in some of his line of works, but gradually drifted away to the "divine call of Allah", reports NDTV.

He got married to Saniya Shaikh, daughter of a wealthy businessman in Karachi, in September 2011.

Moin’s sisters Mahrukh and Mahreen are also married. Mahrukh got married in 2006 to Junaid, son of Pakistani star cricketer Javed Miandad, and Mahreen tied the knot with a US-based businessman's son in early 2011.

Iqbal Kaskar also dismissed all speculations on Dawood Ibrahim’s physical well-being revealing that the crime lord is in excellent health and living in Karachi under the protective eyes of the Pakistani agencies.

However, Iqbal is yet to reveal more information about the Godfather's family imbroglios and provide clues to the future of his activities.

Dawood, India’s most wanted criminal, is the mastermind of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts in which 257 people were killed. He has been listed as a global terrorist by a committee of the UN Security Council.