Sharjah assassination plot

The Sharjah assassination plot was the most daring and ambitious plan ever conceived by Sapna Didi in her relentless war against Dawood Ibrahim. It was a scheme so audacious that it aimed to kill the most powerful don in the Mumbai underworld in front of thousands of spectators at a cricket match, a plan that would ultimately seal Sapna's fate and lead to her gruesome death. The plot represented the climax of a personal vendetta that began with the killing of her husband, Mehmood Khan, and transformed a grieving widow into a fearless challenger of the mafia's supremacy.

Origins of the Vendetta

The Sharjah plot was the culmination of a long and bitter struggle that began with the death of Sapna's husband, Mehmood Khan. Mehmood had been killed in what was officially described as an encounter at Santa Cruz airport, but his widow knew the truth was far different. When Ashraf, Mehmood's first wife, identified his body at J.J. Hospital, she was told he had died of four bullets in an encounter after firing at the cops, a claim she knew was a lie since Mehmood could not have carried a gun past airport security. The killing had been led by police inspector Emanuel Amolik, and the official story was that Mehmood was a wanted gangster shot dead in a shootout. This fake encounter, and the impunity with which it was carried out, became the driving force behind Sapna's determination to challenge Dawood, whom she held responsible for her husband's death. After parting ways with Ashraf, Sapna assembled a group of Muslim youth in her struggle against the mafia, and Dawood in particular. Her men treated her with great respect, addressing her as didi, and served as a strong network of informers. In the name of Mehmood, she continued to fight what she believed in strongly, though she felt her efforts were a drop in the ocean of Dawood's underworld business.

The Plan Takes Shape

The idea for the Sharjah plot emerged from the brouhaha surrounding the India–Pakistan cricket matches being played in Sharjah in the early 1990s. Sapna was not a cricket fan, but she watched these matches for only one person: the rotund man who sat in the VIP enclosure with his glasses on, unruffled by media scrutiny. Dawood rarely appeared in public, and these matches were the only time he actually came out, making them a unique opportunity. Sapna watched each and every move he made, recording most of the matches and obtaining a blueprint of the Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium. Her plan was to kill Dawood at the stadium, in front of thousands of people, while a match was going on. Sapna had never been to Dubai or Sharjah, so her knowledge of these places could only have come from her husband. She hand-picked around seven to ten men and arranged for them to take a brief trip to get an idea of the place before carrying out the attack. She was confident that Dawood would be unarmed at the stadium, and the game plan was for her men to carry innocuous tools like umbrellas, glass bottles, and stilettos, buying tickets for seats around the VIP enclosure where Dawood would be sitting. At a point when the audience stood up to cheer a six or a wicket, some of Sapna's men would handle Dawood's men while the rest, using the sharp tips of the umbrellas and broken bottles, would attack and kill him. The whole thing, Sapna hoped, would only last a few minutes.

The Plot's Discovery and Its Consequences

The plan, which was considered exemplary by those who learned of it, took even Sapna's allies off-balance. One of her trusted aides tipped off Ahmed, a man who had been keeping track of Sapna's activities at the insistence of Ashraf. Ahmed was shocked to learn that Sapna was in the middle of plotting this audacious scheme, which if executed could lead to Dawood's funeral. The discovery of the plot, however, did not lead to its immediate exposure. Instead, it highlighted the extent of Sapna's daring and the depth of her commitment to avenging her husband. Dawood was reportedly very annoyed that someone was daring to challenge his supremacy, and the fact that it was Mehmood's wife made him doubly annoyed. The Sharjah plot represented a direct and public challenge to Dawood's authority, one that could not go unanswered. It was perhaps only a matter of time before Sapna's defiance would have consequences.

The Brutal Aftermath

The Sharjah plot was never executed. Instead, it led directly to Sapna's horrific murder. One evening, a little before 10 p.m., a red Maruti van drove into the bustling lane of Hujjrah Mohalla where Sapna lived. Four men stepped out with daggers and pistols and forced their way into her building. They barged into her house, woke her from her sleep, and dragged her down onto the floor, kicking her in the stomach and hands to prevent her from getting hold of any weapon. Defenceless, Sapna screamed for help, but her timid and unarmed neighbours stayed away. The four men then reached for their daggers and began stabbing her, deliberately avoiding killing her at one go to put her through extreme torture. They targeted her breasts and vagina, inflicting over twenty-two stab wounds, four of which were specifically aimed at her private parts. This was a grisly message of warning to other women not to dally with the mafia. When she finally collapsed, the men left the way they had come, and the people who had gathered outside stood by in silence, knowing these were Dawood and Shakeel's men. Sapna was brought to the hospital dead, and her death marked the end of her audacious challenge to the mafia's power.

Significance and Legacy

Sapna's Sharjah plot and her subsequent murder stand as a testament to the extraordinary courage and the terrible price of defying the Mumbai underworld. She was a woman who dared to stand up against Dawood, a feat that few men would attempt, and she paid for it with her life. Her story, like those of the other women in this book, illustrates that these women were not blank slates written upon by dangerous male mafia members, but active agents who pushed the boundaries of dominant moral codes. The plot itself, though never carried out, revealed the depth of Sapna's hatred for Dawood and her willingness to risk everything to avenge her husband. Her death, with its deliberate and grotesque violence, served as a chilling warning to any woman who might consider challenging the mafia's power, and it remains one of the most brutal and telling episodes in the history of the Mumbai underworld.