Ex-journalist fails to pay up for Dawood's Mumbai property

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }

S Balakrishnan, a former journalist who had bid the highest amount of Rs 4.28 crore to purchase Dawood's restaurant, has failed to pay up.

Hotel Raunak Afroz, an eatery located at Pakmodia street in South Central Mumbai, belongs to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, who is on India's Most Wanted List.

Balakrishnan had approached Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Safema) requesting them to extend his payment deadline by a month. However, they refused to extend it beyond 5 pm on 7 January, reports The Hindu.

Reportedly, Balakrishnan says he had approached various people to raise funds for the property but all of them refused as they are wary of Dawood. Of the total amount, he was able to pay only Rs 30 lakh.

According to some reports, he said he is afraid Dawood's property might go into 'wrong hands'. Balakrishnan runs an NGO called Desh Sewa Samiti.

The Hindu report also states that Balakrishnan has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Maharashtra state Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to use his Rs 30 lakh for building a police station at the property instead of selling it to anyone else.