Riyaz Bhati is a wanted Indian gangster, who is alleged to be a close aide of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. Riyaz is a self-proclaimed builder with a construction company in Mumbai named “S A Bhati and Sons.” Bhati also holds various positions at multiple Indian sports bodies. Since February 2017, he is serving as the Managing Director of Indian Sports Academy Pvt Ltd, in Mumbai. The gangster has also been booked in several cases of extortion, firing, land grabbing, forgery, and cheating. In 2007, a look-out notice was also issued against Riyaz for multiple offences.
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Wiki/Biography
Riyaz Siraj Bhati was born on Monday, 19 February 1968 (age 53 years; as of 2021) in Mumbai. His zodiac sign is Aquarius. The Mumbai-bred Bhati is a diploma holder in civil engineering from Shaboo Siddiq College, Mumbai, which he attended between 1983-1986.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 9″
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
Riyaz’s father’s name is Siraj Bhati, and he also has a brother.
Wife & Children
He is married to Rehnuma Bhati, and the couple has two sons named Abdullha Bhati and Ibrahim Bhati.
Riyaz Bhati with his wife, two sons, and gymnast Dipa Karmakar
Career
Builder
After starting off his career, Bhati gradually became a promoter at Sneha Constructions in 1999, where he worked for three years till 2002. While working as a builder, Riyaz simultaneously started working with the Lashkara Channel and became its director in 2000. He held the post till 2007. In 2012, Bhati became a partner at Wilson Media and Hospitality LLP.
Sports
Since Riyaz is very passionate about sports, he is associated with several sports organisations in India. In 2012, Bhati founded the Kinder Sports Academy, and later on, he became the South Asian Development Officer of the International School Sport Federation. In August 2015, the builder/gangster was appointed the Vice President of the Gymnastics Federation of India, and he has been serving in the same position since then. Bhati is also a member of the Marketing Committee at Mumbai Cricket Association, and in February 2017, Riyaz took hold of the Indian Sports Academy Pvt Ltd, as its director. The sports fanatic also heads the School Games Federation of India (SGFI), and he also serves as the National Coordinator for the All India Mixed Martial Arts Association.
Controversies
Land Grab Case
Riyaz was booked for a land grab case of Malad in 2009, and in 2010, the gangster was accused in a case of organised crime with Chhota Shakeel and others. Riyaz was charged with the MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act) for forcing a builder to leave a redevelopment project in Andheri.
Extortion and Firing
The gangster has been accused of multiple cases of extortion, most of which are registered against him at Juhu and Amboli police stations in Mumbai. In 2007 and 2008, he was also accused in two cases of firing and threats in Khandala.
Fake Passports
In 2013, Riyaz was caught with a fake passport. In October 2015 and February 2020, Bhati was again held at two different airports for the same offence. On 28 October 2015, he was caught and arrested for trying to escape to South Africa by forging his passport. After remaining in police custody for five days, Riyaz was sent to judicial custody, where he was granted bail on 3 November 2015. Since Bhati is a wanted criminal, the court orders restrained him from travelling outside India, but in 2020, Riyaz was arrested at the Mumbai international airport for attempting to flee the country to United Arab Emirates (UAE), again using a fake passport.
Forging Documents
Bhati was again behind the bars in July 2019 after he was accused of fabricating the documents and signatures of the trustees of Wilson College. Reportedly, he did so to get honorary membership of a club of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), and according to the associate, he was already a member of the club since 2013.
Param Bir Singh Extortion Case
In July 2021, Riyaz Bhati was named in an FIR registered at Goregaon police station, which also included the names of the former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh and dismissed Assistant Inspector Sachin Vaze in a case of extortion. In this case, Bhati was accused of collecting money from bars and restaurants for another suspended police inspector. In September 2021, Riyaz moved the court for anticipatory bail, which was rejected. Since then, Bhati has been on the run, and a search warrant has also been issued against the gangster.
Accusations By His Wife
The criminal was accused by his wife, Rehnuma Bhati, of forcing her into prostitution for 15 years, of blackmailing her with her sensitive photos and videos, and of threatening to kill their two children. Rehnuma submitted an application, dated 24 September 2021, at a Mumbai police station in which she alleged that Riyaz repeatedly coerced her into having sex with his business associates, famous sportspersons, and politicians. In the application, she also accused cricketers Hardik Pandya and Munaf Patel, Rajeev Shukla – the Indian National Congress politician and ex-Vice President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and Prithviraj Kothari, the MD of RSBL, among others, of raping her. Some media reports revealed that Rehnuma also accused her husband of marital rape.
Facts/Trivia
The builder is named among the “most wanted underworld names in India.”
Police revealed that the wanted gangster managed to travel eight times abroad and 10 times from the Mumbai international airport between 2009 and 2012, using a fake passport, violating his court orders. Reportedly, Bhati’s original passport expired in 2006, which he could not get renewed because the authorities didn’t give him a clean chit due to multiple criminal cases registered against him.
Riyaz is a sports fanatic, who is associated with several sports organisations of India to promote sports in the country. He is also quite interested in photography. He said in an interview,
My dream to see a sporting India is enlivened every time I see an impeccable performance in gully cricket or a faultless goal in school playground by young and ignorant kids.. There are capable sports stars in every nook and corner of India, waiting for a lead in the world of sports and Indian sports Academy is that lead.”