Agencies
Mumbai, Jan 22: High profile Mumbai encounter specialist Daya Nayak was on Saturday accused of amassing wealth beyond his known sources of income after the city's Anti-Corruption Bureau raided several of his residences and recovered at least Rs.9 crore (two million dollars) worth of illegal assets.
Nayak has been absconding from his residence in Kandivli, Western Mumbai.
Raids were simultaneously conducted in Lokhandwala, Kandivili and Goregaon in Maharashtra and in Mangalore (Karnataka).
Two finance companies, Ojus Finance and Kuber Housing Private Limited, alleged to be run by one of Nayak's associates, were also raided in Mumbai.
Nayak's wife Komal told ACB officials that her husband was out on a business trip, prompting them to issue a search alert for absconding oficer.
Daya Nayaks fall from grace began in 2004 when a petition was filed by a journalist Ketan Tirodkar, who had alleged that Nayak had links with the underworld and that he possessed disproportionate assets.
It was also alleged that Nayak used to kill the rivals of underworld dons with whom he had made links on the pretext of police encounters.
Nayak became a celebrated police officer with over 83 encounters' in his name when he was associated with the Mumbai Crime Branch. He shot to fame after he gunned down two of underworld don Chhota Rajan's aides in December 1996.
Some of the dreaded gangsters he has eliminated include Vinod Matkar ,Chota Rajan's key associate, Rafik Dabawala and Taufiq Kaliya.
But trouble began when Ketan Tirodkar claimed that Nayak had close links with Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel and that he had gained monetarily through the liaison.
Taking note of the allegationa, a special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act court ordered an enquiry into Daya Nayak's wealth.
Assistant Commissoner of Police Dilip Sawant, the investigating officer, submitted his report to Mumbai's Commissioner of Polcie A N Roy in October 2005.
According to the report , most of the investments were made in the name of Nayak's wife. The report also claimed that Nayak owns a fleet of luxury tourist buses and a travel company in the name of Vishal Travels in Andheri, besides a penthouse on Malad-Link Road registered in the name of one of his relatives.
Though two Hindi movies inspired from the life of Daya Nayak have been made, his links with the film industry have also been revealed in the report.
The report states that he himself had financed two films, a Kannada film titled Encounter Daya Nayak and a Hindi film Kagaar.
The ACB has identified a person called Mansoor Hemjady who paid for the travel and hotel bills when Nayak's crew were in Dubai for a shoot. Mansoor also ran a website called dayanayak.com.
The other film inspired by the life of Daya Nayak is the Ram Gopal Verma's 'Ab Tak Chhappan' starring Nana Patekar.
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