January 5, 1992, a Mercedes Benz followed by a white Maruti Gypsy jeep entered the temple town of Mulbagal, which is about 107 km away from Bengaluru, and situated on National Highway 69. This temple town boasts many ancient temples, and notable among them is the Veeranjaneya Swamy Temple. It was also the easternmost end of the Vijayanagara empire.
The vehicles deviated from the main road, entered a bylane, and came to a halt. One of the occupants whipped out a gun and shot the co-traveller at point-blank range, instantly killing him. The driver was also shot at, as well as the driver of the white Gypsy, T. Bawa, who though injured, managed to flee and report the murders to the shocked police of the temple town. The Gypsy was later found abandoned near the office of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in Bengaluru. Obviously, the assailant had fled in the White Gypsy, and abandoned it near the DRI office, presumably as a show of defiance, and as a warning that traitors are not tolerated.
The police of Mulbagal town were amazed to hear from the driver of the Gypsy vehicle, T. Bawa, that the occupant of the car, who was assassinated, was a dreaded smuggling don from Kasaragod, named M.B. Moosa, and the killer was another dreaded don from Mumbai, named Mohammed Dossa. The news created big ripples among police, Customs and Intelligence circles. Investigations unearthed yet another tale of treachery and revenge, using firearms.
K.B. Moosa, a full-time professional smuggler, based in Kasaragod and Dubai, was entrusted by Mohammed Dossa with the job of handling a massive consignment of silver, near Kasaragod and thereafter transporting it to Mumbai. The consignment and the vessel and crew vanished without a trace, and M.B. Moosa reported that the vessel had proceeded to the Tamil Nadu coast and capsized there. Dossa disbelieved this version and flew down to Mangalore to investigate, along with some gang members. The Mangalore meeting was full of bonhomie and camaraderie for the gangs, and ended with a gala dinner, after M.B. Moosa proposed visiting Madras (Chennai), and jointly check with a landing agent about the fate of the vessel.
On the fateful day of January 5, 1992, the two dons proceeded for Chennai by road, via Bengaluru and Mulbagal, in Moosa’s Benz car. In cold blood, Mohammed Dossa assassinated M.B. Moosa, and vanished, only to return in 1993 as a key conspirator in the Mumbai bomb blasts case, that killed nearly 257 innocent people. The weaponry seized for an intended mass carnage were 71 AKs, 500 grenades, and 3.5 tonne RDX. Several conspirators and masterminds of the worst terror attack on the country including underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, his right-hand man Chhota Shakeel and late Yakub Memon’s elder brother Tiger Memon are still absconding and are believed to be sheltered in Pakistan.
In Dubai, Mohammed Dossa and his brother Mustafa Dossa, built one of the biggest gold jewellery showrooms at Gold Souk, called Mignas, which is still with the family. Mustafa Dossa, died of cardiac arrest at a hospital in Mumbai, a day after the Central Bureau of Investigation sought capital punishment for the convict, for his role in the Mumbai bomb blasts. Dossa, aged 60, died at Mumbai’s J. J. Hospital.
Over 30 years have elapsed since the assassination of M.B. Moosa, which took place at Mulbagal, but there is hardly any progress in the investigations, and it is most likely to be closed as unsolved. The silver bars and the fishing boat have vanished forever. The lone assassin Mohammed Dossa, remains untraceable.
Path of the Assassin is an enthralling and gripping novel by Brad Thor, in which he writes “A true assassin leaves no trace, only questions.” Mohammed Dossa is likely to remain an elusive assailant.
The writer is a retired officer of the IRS and the former director-general of the National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
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