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MUMBAI: A builder from the western suburbs, who has taken up a project on a disputed plot in Mira Road, has been shaken after he received a phone call, allegedly from the dreaded fugitive don, Dawood Ibrahim two weeks ago.

"Jayeshbhai, main Dawoodbhai bol rahan hoon. Yeh Mira Road ka property ka mamla mera hai samajh ke, Iqbal jaisa bolta hai vaise settle kar le. Samajh gaya na (Jayeshbhai, this is Dawoodbhai. Consider that I have taken up the Mira Road property issue and settle the matter as Iqbal tells you to. Understood?)," the caller told the builder.

However, the Iqbal mentioned in this conversation is not Dawood’s brother, Iqbal Kaskar. Also, doubts have been raised over the identity of the caller.

According to sources, a middleman, identified as Langda, a close aide of Dawood, later called up Jayesh and told him that the man who had called him was ’Muchchhad’ (as Dawood is referred to).

Langda warned the builder not to prolong the dispute and settle the matter as the mediator, Iqbal, tells him to lest he face the wrath of ’bhai’. Langda is believed to told the builder that he should not take the matter lightly as "Muchchhad intervenes only on special and rare occasions".

Sources said that the victim is so scared that he has neither approached the police nor stepped out of his house for the past two weeks.

"I cannot comment on the matter as we have not received any official complaint from any builder in Mumbai. The scenario of the Dawood gang in Mumbai has changed. If the builder registers a complaint, we will surely investigate the case," a senior officer of the crime branch said.

If Langda’s phone call is to be believed, then Dawood, a global terrorist wanted by the Mumbai police and other security agencies across the country, has threatened a builder after a gap of a decade. Dawood had stopped threatening targets since the late 90s after the killing of music baron Gulshan Kumar by the Abu Salem faction. "I remember Dawood had called up some film personalities and a top police officer to convey the message that he or his men were not involved Gulshan Kumar’s murder. After this, Dawood rarely spoke to anyone besides his kin in Mumbai," said a senior police officer.

Sources said that former friends of Dawood often go abroad and call him up through the Voice over Internet Protocol ( VoIP). For more than a decade, Dawood’s trusted aide Chhota Shakeel had been handling his affairs as Dawood does not want to make it obvious that he is in Karachi, Pakistan, though he has been residing there under three identities, including one of Hassan Shaikh.

Top cops, however, believe this could be a prank played by rivals to scare the builder so that he settles the property dispute.

An officer of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) said that Dawood calls up his brother Iqbal Kaskar and sister Haseena only on rare occasions.