Former Dawood aide dies in Mumbai hospital

A former aide of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim died in Jaslok Hospital in south Mumbai, medical authorities said Monday.

Shakeel Ahmed Sheikh, also known as Lambu Shakeel, was suffering from a heart ailment and died late Sunday night, a hospital official said.

Details of his ailment and death would be released later in an official statement from the hospital, the official added.

Shakeel used to oversee smuggling and hawala operations of the Dawood gang in the 1990s and was a trusted lieutenant of the latter as well another gang operative Chhota Shakeel, a senior Crime Branch official said.

He took part in the gang's gold smuggling activities and was also allegedly involved in transporting weapons and explosives for them, the official said.

"Having fled the country, he organised hawala rackets before being held and deported from Dubai in 2003," the official said.

Sheikh was living with his wife and her parents in Bohri Mohalla in south Mumbai.