What Pakistan's Dawood Ibrahim confession may mean for India

Shehryar Khan, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s special envoy on India, stunned his audience in London by saying Dawood Ibrahim was in Pakistan—and might still be. “Dawood [Ibrahim] was in Pakistan”, he said , “but I believe he was chased out of Pakistan. If he is in Pakistan, he should be hounded and arrested. We cannot allow such gangsters to operate from the country”. It’s the first admission a high Pakistani official has ever made that the organised crime lord and 1993 serial bombings perpetrator was ever in that country and it leaves open the possibility that action might be taken against him. There’s speculation Khan may have spoken as a kind of peace offering in response to mounting tensions. It’s worth recalling, though, that Mehmood Ali Durrani, then-National Security Advisor, was summarily sacked for admitting 26/11 gunman Ajmal Kasaab was a Pakistani national. It’s probably too early, therefore, to take this as some kind of signal that Pakistan’s willing to act against him. Khan’s statement isn’t, moreover, clear. It doesn’t tell us when Dawood Ibrahim was in Pakistan. [caption id=“attachment_1023849” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Even though there’s been mounting international pressure to get Dawood Ibrahim, though, there’s been precious little official information on where he is.[/caption] The news isn’t news, of course, for most people in India: denials or no denials, Dawood Ibrahim’s whereabouts are well known. The investigative journalist Anas Abbas, in a recent exposé for Firstpost, said that, until last year, Dawood Ibrahim was “living openly in Clifton, Block 4, Karachi, near Café Flo, known as an elite hang-out”. He wasn’t, however, able to get access to the block—guarded by the army. There are plenty of other stories: Dawood Ibrahim is hiding out in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border badlands; he’s had plastic surgery; he travels using one of 29 passports. Even though there’s been mounting international pressure to get Dawood Ibrahim, though, there’s been precious little official information on where he is. DAWOOD IBRAHIM RUNS MUMBAI BETTING SYNDICATE-BUT FROM WHERE? AUGUST 3, 2013 The Delhi Police says, in documents filed before a Delhi court, that it has audiotape of Dawood Ibrahim talking to members of the Indian Premier League betting ring. It doesn’t say for sure, though, where he was speaking from—which isn’t surprising, since organised crime cartels and terrorists often use internet telephony to conceal their whereabouts. INDIA DOESN’T KNOW FOR SURE WHERE DAWOOD IS MAY 13, 2013 Minister of State for Home M. Ramachandran tells Parliament Dawood “has not been located so far”. Last year, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told an Interpol meeting Dawood Ibrahim was in “a neighbouring country”. In 2011, India had handed Pakistan a list of 50 fugitives said to be sheltering there, including Dawood Ibrahim—but effort ended in embarrassment, after it transpired the list included a person in custody. PAKISTAN PRESSURISES THAILAND NOT TO HAND OVER DAWOOD IBRAHIM AIDE MARCH 19, 2013 Newspapers report that Pakistan has been blocking the extradition of Mudassar Husain Sayeed, alias Munna Jhingada, convicted of attempting to kill rival ganglord Rajendra Nikhalje, saying he’s a Pakistani national called Muhammad Salim. India is keen to have Sayeed back, since he would have relatively recent information on Dawood Ibrahim’s whereabouts. PERVEZ MUSHARRAF SAYS DAWOOD IBRAHIM IS A HERO IN PAKISTAN NOVEMBER 17, 2011 “They think that he did a very good job”, Musharraf tells NDTV, demonstrating great candour if not equally sharp knowledge of history. “In Gujarat they killed 3,000 Muslims. Therefore Dawood Ibrahim reacted. So he is held in high esteem”. PAKISTAN SAYS IT DOESN’T KNOW WHERE DAWOOD—OR MASOOD AZHAR—ARE FEBRUARY 19, 2009 Rehman Malik, Pakistan’s interior minister, says he doesn’t know where either Dawood Ibrahim or Jaish-e-Muhammad chief Muhammad Masood Azhar are—and adds he hasn’t received an Indian request for their arrest. Masood Azhar’s contradicts earlier claims made by Pakistani officials—not to mention his frequent public appearances since. DAWOOD’S DOESN’T SHOW UP AT DAUGHTER’S WEDDING RECEPTION IN DUBAI JULY 23, 2005 Local newspapers report that a card inviting guests to the wedding of his daughter, Mahrukh to cricket-star Javed Miandad’s son, Junaid Miandad, bears his name. He doesn’t show up at the wedding reception—though there were rumours he travelled for a religious ceremony in Mecca. From a leaked United States diplomatic cable, we know the United States embassy in New Delhi was furious that an American corporation, the Hyatt, hosted the reception, and meant to find out who paid the bill. We don’t know, though, what happened. DAWOOD BECOMES AN INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST OCTOBER 16, 2003: The United States Treasury Department imposes sanctions, calling Dawood Ibrahim a “specially designated international terrorist”. It says the ganglord “has found common cause with al-Qaida, sharing his smuggling routes with the terror syndicate and funding attacks by Islamic extremists aimed at destabilising the Indian government”. It doesn’t say, though, where he is. DAWOOD IBRAHIM ISN’T IN PAKISTAN, INSISTS PERVEZ MUSHARRAF JULY 14-16, 2003 Pervez Musharraf flatly tells Home Minister LK Advani Dawood Ibrahim is not in Pakistan. Later, Advani says Musharraf’s face “suddenly turned red and unfriendly” when asked for Dawood’s extradition. In his memoirs, Advani claimed Colin Powell—then United States secretary of state—promised during the 2001-2002 crisis that Musharraf would hand over Dawood Ibrahim “with some strings attached” inside 15-20 days. DAWOOD IBRAHIM LIVES IN KARACHI NOVEMBER 20, 2000 In a riveting article, journalist Ghulam Hasnain confirms long-standing Indian claims that Dawood Ibrahim is in Karachi, living in a 6,000 square-foot plot in an upmarket neighbourhood.. “Mr D still wakes up in the early afternoon, lazes around till 2 pm when he goes for a swim and some exercise”, Hasnain writes. “Sometimes he plays a game of cricket or snooker with associates who’ve called on him early”.