Tiger Memon Age, Wife, Family, Biography & More

Some Lesser Known Facts About Tiger Memon

• Tiger Memon, one of the most wanted persons by Interpol and CBI, ^[4]The Hindu is the key conspirator of the 1993 Bombay Bomb Blasts.

• Reportedly, he is a former member of the “D – Company,” an organised crime family of an Indian mafia gangster and a wanted terrorist from Dongri, Dawood Ibrahim.

• In November 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) declared Tiger Memon as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act) for his association with the D-Company. ^[5]Office of Foreign Assets Control ^[6]The Hindu

• According to some sources, Ibrahim Mushtaq Memon, along with all his brothers, was named after the esteemed prophets quoted in the Quran and Old Testament. ^[7]The Telegraph

• Reportedly, Tiger Memon murdered Manjubhai, a hotelier from Nagpara in South Mumbai, who was suspected of giving a tip to the customs officials about seven crores of the gold consignment; the consignment belonged to a smuggling gang for which Memon used to work and was ceased in 1982. ^[8]DNA Some sources claimed that after this murder, Memon was called ‘Tiger.’ ^[9]DNA

• As claimed by the media outlets, Tiger quit his studies to give his family financial support by getting a job. ^[10]The Telegraph

• According to some sources, Tiger joined Konkan Mercantile Bank in south Mumbai as a clerk. ^[11]The Telegraph Tiger, however, was helped by his father, Razzak Memon, to get the job as he had a powerful grip over the community.

• As reported by some media outlets, Tiger Memon once caught up in a fight with the manager of the bank as he asked Tiger to get a cup of tea for one of the visitors at the bank, finding it disrespectful, Tiger held the manager by his collar and hit him so hard that he collapsed on his seat. ^[12]The Telegraph

• Reportedly, Tiger chose the alternate route of smuggling to become rich following which he became one of the top smugglers. ^[13]The Telegraph

• According to some sources, Tiger took over his brother Yakub’s ‘Tejrath International,’ a company dealing with the export of meat and meat products, and used its name and reputation to hide his smuggling deals.

• Reportedly, in the late 70s, Tiger used to smuggle electronic items ^[14]DNA and precious metals. ^[15]India Today He had a small shop at the Dormitory market situated next to the present-day Manish market. Those who worked with him claimed that he used to make between Rs. 200 and Rs. 300 a day, and once he made a profit of Rs. 500 and threw a party for fellow dealers and smugglers.

• It was revealed by one of the neighbours of Tiger Memon, in an interview, that Tiger’s success in his “business” could be seen in his confidence and stylish appearance. ^[16]India Today According to the neighbour, Tiger was the first to own a red ‘Maruti 1000’ car with the number ‘GJI 3737’ in the society. ^[17]India Today The neighbour mentioned Tiger as stubborn. ^[18]The Telegraph

• The demolition of Babri Masjid on 6 December 1992 in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, led to communal tension in different parts of the country and countless killing of Muslims following which a mob of Hindu hooligans in Bombay, familiar with Tiger’s disinclination to Hindus, burned down his office at ‘Tejrath International.’ ^[19]The Telegraph Yakub’s office, however, was not caused any harm by the mob. ^[20]The Telegraph It is believed that one of the reasons behind the 1993 Bombay Bomb Blasts was Tiger Memon’s revenge for the destruction of his assets by the Hindu hooligans.

• Tiger, reportedly, shaped his revenge into a religious conflict to make it easier for him to achieve his aim of setting the whole city on fire. ^[21]The Telegraph

• On 12 March 1993, Bombay was rocked by a series of almost 12 bomb blasts, activated with a gap of around ten to fifteen minutes in different public places including the Bombay Stock Exchange, Century Bazaar, Fisherman’s Colony in Mahim Causeway, Katha Bazaar, Zaveri Bazaar, Sea Rock Hotel, Air India Building, Juhu Centaur Hotel, etc. ^[22]News 18 As a consequence, over 250 people were killed, while around 700 people were injured. ^[23]News 18

• Reportedly, Tiger, a day before the blast, fled to Dubai and later moved to Pakistan, ^[24]The Economic Times where he was allegedly hiding with India’s one of the most wanted criminals – Dawood Ibrahim. ^[25]The Economic Times

• Reportedly, Tiger was friends with a smuggler named Taufiq Jaliawala in Dubai. While living in Karachi, Tiger purportedly insisted his family (Tiger’s family) move to Karachi. ^[26]The Telegraph According to some sources, the Memon family received money from Jaliawala and Tiger with which they built a luxurious house, including 12 bedrooms and a gymnasium, named ‘Ahmed House’ worth Rs. 1. 16 crores on a Rs 60 lakh plot in the Karachi Development Scheme area. ^[27]India Today Some media outlets claim that Tiger Memon was restricted from moving freely in Karachi. ^[28]India Today

• Reportedly, Tiger’s brother Yakub had some pieces of evidence about the involvement of Tiger Memon, Taufiq Jaliawala (a smuggler from Pakistan), and others in the 1993 Bombay bombings that they executed with the help of Pakistan. ^[29]The Telegraph To provide those evidence to the Indian officials, Yakub travelled to Dubai via Kathmandu and booked his returned tickets prior on a Lufthansa flight; however, Yakub was arrested in Kathmandu, where he rectified his identity from ‘Yusuf Memon’ (brother) to ‘Yakub Memon’ to the officials.

• According to some sources, Yakub helped Indian authorities gather evidence against Tiger Memon and his collaboration with Pakistan. ^[30]The Telegraph

• Reportedly, the evidence collected by Yakub consisted of twelve Pakistani passports of the Memon family in which father Abdul Razzak was named Ahmed Mohammad Jamal (Pakistani passport no AA 763649), mother Hanifa as Zainab Ahmed (PP no AA 763645), Tiger Memon as Ahmed Jamaal (PP no 762402), Yakub as Yusuf Ahmed (PP no AA 763242), Raheen (Yakub’s wife) as Zeba Yusuf Ahmed (PP no 763646), and Suleman Memon as Aftaab Ahmed (PP no AA 763651). ^[31]Mumbai Mirror

• Reportedly, a huge controversy about the “Decorated” grave of Yakub took a turn when it came out that Tiger Memon threatened the guards at the graveyard for refusing the beautification of his younger brother Yakub’s grave. ^[32]Times Now
  

  Yakub Memon’s ‘decorated’ grave at Bara Qabristan in Mumbai

  One of the trustees of the graveyard, Pravesh Sarkar, claimed that he was threatened by Yakub’s cousin with the name of Tiger Memon. Pravesh Sarkar, in an interview, said,

  When we refused to entertain the request of a special grave for Yakub, the cousin said Tiger wants to speak to you.” ^[33]Times Now

• Some media sources claim that after Yakub’s execution at the Nagpur Central Jail, Tiger spoke to his mother over a phone call and said that he would make every individual responsible for the loss of his brother, pay. He said,
  

  Main unko chukwaonga (I will make them pay).” ^[34]The Economic Times

  Tiger’s mother, Hanifa Memon, however, grieved for her son Yakub and asked Tiger not to cause any violence. Hanifa said,

  Bas ho gaya. Pehle ke vajah se mera Yakub gaya ab aur nahi main dekh sakti. (Stop this, due to the first incident, I have lost Yakub. Now I can’t bear to see any more people dying).” ^[35]The Economic Times

• Reportedly, it was claimed by Congress MLA Usman Majeed that he met Tiger in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir after the 1993 blasts and asked him about the reason behind it and how he executed his strategy. ^[36]The Times of India According to him, the founder of the Students Liberation Front and the Ikhwan-ul-Muslimeen chief, Hilal Baig, introduced Usman Majeed to Tiger. Usmaan added that he met Tiger two to three times in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK). ^[37]The Times of India Usman Majeed said,
  

  I met Tiger in 1993. I met him 2-3 times. He used to come to our office in Muzaffarabad (capital of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir). I was not friends with Tiger. Hilal Beg, the founder of the Students Liberation Front and chief of the Ikhwan-ul-Muslimeen militant outfit introduced me to him. He was most wanted that time in the country. He had carried out the blasts. I asked him how and why he had done it and what was the reason behind the blasts. He replied that the main reason was the demolition of Babri Masjid and the riots that followed it. He said people, including women, had come to him and told him that they were being killed and he had got emotional. That’s why he carried out the blasts.” ^[38]The Times of India

  According to Usman, Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) helped Tiger execute the blasts; moreover, he was afraid to be killed by the ISI after Yakub surrendered. ^[39]The Times of India Usmaan added,

  ISI  helped Tiger in carrying out the blasts. It wasn’t Tiger himself who did it. According to Tiger, everything was done by Pakistan – the plan and the weaponry was provided by them (Pakistan) and the plan was executed by his (Tiger’s) gang on the directions of ISI.” ^[40]The Times of India

  

  An image from the meeting between Tiger Memon, Usmaan, Hilal Baig, and others in Karachi, 1993

• According to some sources, Tiger Memon, along with an established restaurateur from Mumbai, opened a restaurant in one of the cities of the Emirates. ^[41]The Times of India

• ‘Black Friday,’ an adaption of journalist S. Hussain Zaidi’s “Black Friday: The True Story of the Bombay Bomb Blasts” (2002), was released in 2004.
  

  S. Hussain’s ‘Black Friday – The True Story of the Bombay Bomb Blasts’

  The film introduced the audience to the 1993 Bombay serial blasts. Actor Pawan Malhotra portrayed Tiger Memon in the film.

  

  Pawan Malhotra as ‘Tiger Memon’ in the film ‘Black Friday’ (2004)