Who is Danish Merchant, close aide of Dawood Ibrahim and drug syndicate kingpin, arrested by NCB Mumbai?

File photo: Danish Merchant (Left)

In a major crackdown, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai has arrested fugitive accused Danish Merchant alias Danish Chikna, a close aide of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, from Goa. He was wanted in an MD drugs case and had been absconding for a long time. The central agency has also arrested his Merchant’s wife, Henna Bharat Shah and two associates.

Who is Danish Merchant?

Danish Merchant had been on the run and looked after the operations of the drug network linked to Dawood’s gang in the country, an official said. Merchant and his wife were tracked to a luxury resort in Goa and arrested after sustained surveillance. Both accused are habitual offenders with multiple NDPS and criminal cases, NCB said. After interrogation, both were placed under arrest, the NCB said in a statement.

The operation led to the seizure of 1.341 kg of Mephedrone and exposed an interstate network involved in synthetic drug trafficking. Merchant was also declared Tadipaar by the Mumbai Police in 2024. The NCB said in a statement that they had initially intercepted a suspect on the night of September 18 in Pune and seized 502 g of mephedrone, which led them to a home belonging to Merchant, from where 839 g of mephedrone was seized and one of his associates was arrested during the raid.

Reports suggest that Danish Merchant is the son of Yusuf Merchant, also known as Yusuf Chikna, a Dongri-based gangster who was associated with the Dawood Ibrahim gang in the 1980s and 1990s. NCB and Rajasthan police had previously registered three cases against Merchant under the NDPS Act. The Mumbai Police has also registered seven criminal cases against him. The police had externed him, ordering him to stay out of the Mumbai municipal limits, the statement said.