India, June 8 -- Alleged international drug trafficking kingpin Salim Dola, who was deported from Turkey to India in April and is presently in custody of the Vadodara police in a drug trafficking case, has denied any links with fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim.

The 59-year-old class six dropout has told investigators that he acted entirely on his own and did not have any connections with the Dawood Ibrahim gang or its associates, contrary to charges pressed by the Mumbai crime branch, police officers privy to his interrogation by the crime branch told Hindustan Times.

Dola was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) after being deported to India in April.

The Mumbai police crime branch subsequently obtained his custody and will ...