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Mumbai: Mohammed Ali Shaikh (65), known as ‘paani ka badshah’ for his skills in smuggling diesel through the sea route, on Sunday died of a heart attack at a private hospital where he was being treated for Covid. He is survived by three wives and seven children.
Shaikh, whom the police described as a diesel smuggler, also dabbled in politics by unsuccessfully contesting the 2009 Lok Sabha elections on a BSP ticket from South Mumbai. He was also involved in cases of red sanders smuggling, besides the 2010 murder of his former aide Sayyed Madar alias Chand. Shaikh was under the scanner in the 26/11 terror probe for carrying out a recce for David Headley, one of the conspirators. He started his career in Mumbai in the late ’80s with a cycle tyre puncture shop and moved to oil smuggling.