Journalist who won Dawood hotel unable to pay up Rs 4.8 crore

Former journalist S. Balakrishnan — who on December 9 won the auction of one out of seven properties of India’s most wanted gangster, Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, at Pakmodia street in south Mumbai for Rs 4.28 crore — has stated that he will not be in a position to pay this huge amount.

Admitting that he will not be able to raise the said amount in the stipulated 30 day period, Mr Balakrishnan on Thursday appealed to the government to inaugurate a police chowky at the one-plus structure instead of auctioning it again.

While Mr Balakrishnan has been able to aggregate about Rs 40 lakh, he stands to lose his earnest deposit of Rs 30 lakh made to the competent authority. He allegedly received death threats from Dawood’s right-hand man, Chotta Shakeel, before the auction and after it.

Soon after winning the auction for the hotel, Mr Balakrishnan appealed to the country through various news channels and newspapers to donate money to his NGO, Desh Seva Samiti, and said this would be used to open an education centre on Dawood’s former property where poor children would be provided free English language lessons and computer education.

The competent authority had attached all properties of Dawood under the Narcotics and Smugglers & Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Properties) Act 1976 cases. The bidding took place in three phases in Hotel Diplomat at Colaba.