Iqbal Mohammed Memon alias Iqbal Mirchi was arrested in April 1995 and was discharged in September 1995 by Bow Street Magistrates’ Court [Magistrate Jeremy Connor]. The order was non-appealable. An extradition case dismissed before a proper trial shows an astonishing level of non-application of mind…

Mirchi’s career, much like Dawood’s, started from tough and grimy by-lanes of South Bombay ghettoes. Mirchi’s case found its way into Vohra Committee Report which was set up to examine and suggest ways to delink increasing hold of criminals in law enforcement agencies. Mirchi had quickly diversified into real estate. His most popular investment was Fisherman’s Wharf, which was also known as Hotel Gurukripa. Police lore has it, Fisherman’s Wharf also ran a popular striptease. In April 1987, thirty-one women were taken into custody.  

By end of 1987, Mirchi had moved to Dubai. His second wife Heena Kausar had already got a British Passport – facilitating his residency in Britain. Heena’s mother, Nigar Sultana, known for playing jealous Bahar, a lady-in-waiting in Mughal-e-Azam, directed by Heena’s father K. Asif, advised Heena to be a dutiful wife.

The crimes for which Mirchi was sought to be extradited were committed after he had shifted base outside India. Mirchi died in London’s famous Hyde Park where he had gone for a walk with his friend on 13 August 2013. The sprawling six-bedroom house in Hornchurch, once abuzz with people and activities, is now a skeleton of its original self.

– Danish Khan & Ruhi Khan, Escaped, (Penguin, 2021).