Mumbai: Danish Merchant alias Danish Chikna, a key associate of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim was arrested from Goa by the Mumbai unit of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
NCB officials said that Danish was apprehended late Tuesday night and taken into custody for questioning regarding the supply and distribution of contraband substances in Mumbai and adjoining areas.
He played a “significant role” in managing parts of the Dongri-based drug syndicate allegedly linked to Dawood Ibrahim’s network, they alleged.
“Mumbai NCB arrested Danish Chikna, an absconding accused in a drug case. Danish Merchant, alias Danish Chikna, an associate of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, was arrested in Goa in connection with an MD drug case,” the Mumbai NCB said.
The latest arrest is part of a wider crackdown on remnants of Dawood Ibrahim’s operations in Mumbai. The NCB and Mumbai Police are jointly tracing the financial routes and supply networks connected to Danish and his associates. Officials indicated that further arrests are likely as teams investigate the flow of narcotics and funds tied to the syndicate.
A long-time associate of Dawood’s network operating in Mumbai’s Dongri area, Danish is the son of Yusuf Merchant, also known as Yusuf Chikna, a gangster active in the 1980s and 1990s who was part of the same syndicate.
Danish has apparently been on the radar of law enforcement agencies for several years for allegedly overseeing local narcotics supply chains and coordinating with peddlers operating across Mumbai. He is said to have maintained connections with several arrested drug traffickers, including Arif Bhujwala and Chinku Pathan, both accused of running manufacturing and distribution operations on behalf of Dawood Ibrahim’s network.
Danish had been arrested by the NCB in Rajasthan in April 2021 after a 1,200-kilometre chase. He was accused of operating a clandestine drug lab in Dongri and sourcing synthetic drugs for Mumbai’s party circuit. The agency claimed to have seized hashish and chemicals used in methamphetamine production from his possession.
In December 2024, he was again detained by the Mumbai Police’s Anti-Narcotics Cell, following the arrest of two peddlers who allegedly identified him as their supplier.