Baba Asif, who was recently mentioned by former Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Lalit Modi in connection with a phone call allegedly made to Pakistan-based fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim to settle a dispute, also appears in an Enforcement Directorate (ED) chargesheet linked to late drug trafficker Iqbal Mirchi and his associates.
Role in Mirchi Family Dispute
According to the ED chargesheet, Mirchi's nephew Nadeem stated in his testimony that his uncle had plotted to kill him, but Asif intervened to protect him. Asif is Mirchi's brother-in-law. Nadeem's statement was included in the chargesheet filed by the ED before a Mumbai court. The motive behind Mirchi's alleged plan to kill Nadeem was that Nadeem's daughter had refused to marry Mirchi's younger son.
Baba Asif's Connections
Intelligence sources revealed that Baba Asif is well-known in political and bureaucratic circles in both Pakistan and India and has acted as an intermediary in informal communications between influential individuals across various countries. They also claimed that he has close links with British intelligence agencies. Baba Asif is the son of filmmaker K Asif, the director of the classic film Mughal-e-Azam, and the stepbrother of Hina, Mirchi's second wife. Sources added that he maintains several close friendships within Bollywood.
Sequence of Events
Mirchi died in London in 2013. Following his death, Nadeem obtained the transcript of a recording from the London police that he had submitted in 2011 when filing a case against Mirchi. He later submitted this transcript along with a detailed statement to the ED in 2021.
Nadeem approached Baba Asif due to his influence and connections. Asif invited Nadeem to his penthouse in Park Lane, London, and subsequently called Mirchi to the residence in an attempt to resolve the dispute. After discussing the matter with Nadeem, Asif asked him to leave through another door shortly before Mirchi arrived. Instead, Nadeem claimed he hid inside the residence, listened to the conversation between Asif and Mirchi, and secretly recorded it before leaving through a different exit.
When Mirchi later learned that Nadeem was planning to file a case against him, he instructed his son Junaid to lodge a police complaint in London, accusing Nadeem of making threats after the marriage proposal fell through. Nadeem was subsequently arrested. During questioning, Nadeem provided police with information about Mirchi's alleged involvement in drug trafficking and other criminal activities, but no action was taken against Mirchi.
After his release, Nadeem claimed he discovered that Mirchi was still seeking to have him killed. He approached the police with the recorded conversation involving Mirchi and Baba Asif and filed a complaint. According to his statement, the police acted on the complaint and arrested Mirchi. Nadeem further alleged that Baba Asif again intervened to resolve the dispute between the two men. Subsequently, the Crown Prosecution Service concluded there was insufficient evidence to proceed and dropped the charges against Mirchi.
Extradition Efforts
Following Mirchi's arrest, Indian agencies attempted to secure his extradition but were unsuccessful because documents related to cases against him were reportedly missing from Mumbai police records.
Lalit Modi's Claims
In an interview with a news channel, Lalit Modi claimed that Baba Asif had summoned him to his penthouse residence early one morning in 2012 to help resolve an issue. Modi alleged that in his presence, Asif placed a call to fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and urged him to speak with Modi. Modi claimed he refused to talk to Ibrahim, though he listened to the conversation because the call was on speakerphone.
Modi described Asif as someone who was "seen everywhere" and "a man of the world." He further claimed that during a meeting with his friend Shaukat Aziz, former Prime Minister of Pakistan, he found Asif present there as well, which, according to Modi, reinforced his perception of Asif's extensive connections.
