ASHRAF KHAN OR SAPNA GANGSTER

 

"Dongri to Dubai" is a biography of Dawood Ibrahim. I read it a long time ago. Some time ago when I was in Bombay I had a curiosity to know if there were any women gangsters in Bombay. There were such ladies in Bombay. Out of them, the one who impressed me the most was the name of "Ashraf Khan" (sounds like a male name but it is a woman’s name). She changed her name to "Sapna" later on. In fact she was not a criminal but she was terrorized by Dawood Ibrahim and was eventually killed by Chota Shakeel. She was a brave woman who fought against Dawood Ibrahim without caring for her life in the least.

Ashraf Khan's husband's name was Mohammed Khan. He was a follower of Dawood Ibrahim who had already fled Dubai then. Her husband went along with Dawood to Dubai. But Ashraf Khan only knows that her husband is doing some job in Dubai and she doesn't really know what kind of job it is. She did not even know that he was a criminal.

For her, her husband is her life. One day Mohammed Khan called her from Dubai and told her that he was coming back to India. She was very happy and went to the airport to receive her husband. Mohammed Khan got off the flight and she saw him in the lobby. Thereafter he disappeared.

Meanwhile, there was a police encounter at the airport. She searched around and came to know that the police had shot and killed her husband in an encounter.

Ashraf Khan was overwhelmed with grief but being a brave woman, was able to hold back the tears. After cremating her husband, Ashraf came to know that the encounter was arranged by Dawood Ibrahim through the police. Dawood did not want her husband Mohammed Khan to leave him and  go to Bombay. That was why Dawood got him killed by passing on the information to the Police.

Ashraf got very angry when she came to know about it. She, then thought that she had to kill  Dawood Ibrahim somehow. But how? Ashraf is a pure Muslim housewife. She wore a Burkha was from top to bottom. But she asked many of the people whom she knew as to how how to achieve it. But what advice can they give her? Finally one of them told her that there is a man called Hussain Ustara who is a bitter foe of Dawood and he can help her somehow.

Dawood  is a big gangster. All the Indian police are looking for him. Many wondered what such an ordinary housewife  could do to him. Someone said that there was a gangster named Hussain Ustara in Bombay who said that Dawood means anger and if he meets him, he will help him in any way.

Hussain Ustara was a womaniser.  He did not know what real love is. Ashraf went, met Ustara and told him that she wants to kill Dawood Ibrahim. Ustara laughed at that. He wondered what an ordinary housewife like her wearing a burqa can do to Dawood Ibrahim.

 After seeing the strength of her words and the determination in her eyes, Ustara felt that he should help her. Ashraf asked Ustara to teach her shooting and he trained her in it. Ashraf also diligently learned shooting and karate from him. Later, Ashraf removed the burqa as the burqa prevented her from learning to ride a motorbike. She is a good looking woman. She was tall and delicate. She used to wearing Salwar before, but later she switched to tea shirts and jeans

As already stated, Ustara is a big womaniser, but he fell in love with Ashraf. No matter how close she was to him, she saw him as a good friend and nothing more. There is no other intention in her mind except to kill Dawood Ibrahim. Her whole body and soul are dedicated to it and she pursued it with great passion and determination.  Ustara knew her intentions  very well and that is why he did not have the courage to tell her about his love.

Ustara knew that Dawood often smuggles guns from Nepal. Dawood will suffer a huge loss if the smuggling is stopped. For that Ustara and Ashraf together went to Nepal and stopped the Gun consignments of Dawood many times.

One day Ustara could not stop his love for Ashraf. He hugged her and Ashraf flared up like a Cobra. She immediately said goodbye and left him. And thereafter, she did not meet Ustara as long as she lived.

She enquired with people regarding Dawood’s Liquor and Gambling businesses, gave that information regarding their location to the Police and got them closed dwon. The fact that a housewife can do so much alone shows how brave she is. Then Dawood Ibrahim was the number 1 gangster in Bombay even though he was in Dubai.

Eventually she planned to kill Dawood Ibrahim when she came to know that he would come to watch a cricket match in Sharjah. Accordingly, she planned that her men should come into the field with sharp-edged umbrellas and stab Dawood with them. But this plan was conveyed to Chota Shakeel by one of the men she assigned to do the task.

With that Chhota Shakeel sent a big bunch of 20 men at once to kill her. Even though she was an expert at using her Mauser pistol, the men surprised her and did not give her that chance. They did not want her to die easily so that a warning gets served to the enemies of Dawood Ibraham if anyone dares to go against him.  That was why they did not  shoot her. They cut her all over her body with knives and left her to bleed to death. Ashraf died but she died as a Hero.

Ashraf's courage and her persistence amazes me. She upset Dawood Ibrahim, upon hearing whose name many at Bombay trembled, without ever thinking what would happen to her if caught.  If a person like her  joins the army, she would have served the nation very honourably, but she wanted to avenge her husband at any cost. Never did she ever think what would happen to her in the process. Till the last moment of her life she lived with the desire to kill Dawood Ibrahim. So as per her it is her dharma and she was ready to sacrifice her life for that .

She changed her name to "Sapna" in the middle after leaving Ustara as she sought the help of a Hindu gangster who did not like Muslims.