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Was Iqbal Kaskar’s extortion money pumped into Bollywood?

The arrest on Monday of Dawood Ibrahim’s youngest brother Iqbal Kaskar by the Thane Anti-Extortion Cell has given rise to speculation that the fugitive underworld don is financing Bollywood films again.

Interestingly, Kaskar was arrested when he was watching Apoorva Lakhia’s biopic Haseena Parkar which is made on his late sister by the same name and stars Shraddha Kapoor in the title role. He was arrested for extorting money from some Thane builders in the name of his brother Dawood Ibrahim.

After Kaskar’s preliminary interrogation, the Thane police are looking at four under production Bollywood films that could possibly be financed by the don. The police suspect that he was investing the extortion money in films. Thane Police Commissioner Parambir Singh said after Kaskar’ arrest, “The underworld has always invested in Bollywood. Now when Iqbal and his fellows are under arrest the matter will be probed further. We suspect that all their extortion money was invested in films.”

Meanwhile, it is also learned that the Anti-Extortion Cell of the Thane Police is looking into Lakhia’s filmHaseena Parkar that releases on Friday. Its documents are under scrutiny because, according to sources, the police suspect the underworld don might get a share of the film’s profits.

Haseena Parkar, who was known as the ‘Queen of Mumbai’, came into her own after the 1993 Bombay serial blasts and took over Dawood Ibrahim’s empire in the city. Haseena Parkar is made on her life. It was she who gave her nod to filmmaker Apoorva Lakhia to make the film. Her brother-in-law Iqbal Parkar was present at the time of these talks and is the one in touch with the film’s producers now. The police are looking into the terms of payment of the contract and who all will be beneficiaries from the film. Trade sources say that the recent developments will not affect the film’s release but, in fact, will only create extra hype around it for the benefit of the filmmakers.

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