Dawood aide Mirchi sent to judicial custody

Underworld don and terrorist Dawood Ibrahim's close associate Iqbal Mirchi was sent to judicial custody on Thursday by a British court after he was charged with threatening to kill a man, media reports said.

The 61-year-old Mirchi, whose original name is Iqbal Menon and is wanted in many cases in India, including the 1993 Mumbai bombings, was arrested from Romford in Essex on Tuesday for allegedly threatening to kill 41-year-old Nadeem Kader.

According to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Mirchi handled Dawood´s drug business empire.

India is likely to seek his extradition from UK, though an earlier attempts many years back had failed.

Mirchi got his name so because he used to own a spice shop in Mumbai. He was a thief in the dock area who joined the Dawood gang and climbed up in the gang to be his right hand man.

The drug empire of Dawood that the 61-year-old manages spreads across India, Pakistan, Dubai, UK and even Canada, reports said.

Mirchi was earlier arrested in 1995 by the Scotland Yard but he was later let off as the charges could not be proved.

He was living between London and Dubai, running the drug empire, according to media reports.

He had fled from India after the 1993 serial blasts which he had allegedly helped finance.