Dawood Ibrahim's close aide Iqbal Mirchi dies in London

London: One of the India's most wanted terrorists Dawood Ibrahim's close aide Iqbal Mirchi died of heart attack in London. He was apparently handling the drug business of underworld don Dawood in Mumbai. His name also appeared during IPL betting case.

Mirchi, 63, the right-hand man of underworld don, was facing drug smuggling charges in India and was also under investigation over the Indian Premier League match-fixing and betting scandal.

He had been living in a large six-bedroom home in an exclusive part of Hornchurch, a town in Essex, north-east of London.

An Interpol Red Corner Notice against Muhammed Iqbal Memon or Iqbal Mirchi, ranked among the world's top 50 drug barons, had been issued in 1994 on Central Bureau of Investigation's request.

A United Nations report had claimed he is a senior figure in the 'D' company, a worldwide organised-crime syndicate headed by Dawood.

In April 1995, officers from Scotland Yard had raided Mirchi's home and arrested him on drugs and terrorism charges in connection with the blasts in Mumbai.

However, an extradition request by India was turned down by magistrates here.

Scotland Yard's investigation of Mirchi, which ended in 1999, found no evidence of criminal activity and in 2001 the UK Home Office granted him indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

Mirchi was arrested again by the Metropolitan Police and charged with threatening to kill a 41-year-old man, identified as Nadeem A Kader also from Essex, in October 2011.

The CBI had attempted to revive its extradition request at the time but the UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had dropped all charges against him because "the evidence received was not enough to provide a realistic prospect of conviction".

The name Mirchi relates to his family's red chilli powder business back in India, a country he fled in the 1990s. He had repeatedly expressed a wish to return to his "homeland" if the CBI dropped its extradition claims.

India's most-wanted criminal Dawood Ibrahim is on FBI's list of top terrorists in the world.

(With additional inputs from PTI)