Dawood Ibrahim ‘poisoned’ in Karachi? How Pakistan denies sheltering the underworld don

Pakistan, for decades, has been in denial of sheltering underworld don and 1993 Mumbai blasts mastermind Dawood Ibrahim, and on Monday, unconfirmed reports said he has been admitted to a hospital in Karachi and is kept under tight security following a serious health complication after being allegedly poisoned.

The authorities in Pakistan have been tight-lipped and have not reacted to the developments being reported by the media.

Not much information is coming from Pakistan either as internet services in the country have been down since Saturday (16 December, 2023) evening and people do not have access to social media platforms including Twitter and Facebook.

Has Dawood Ibrahim been ‘poisoned’?

Meanwhile, the Mumbai Police have been trying to obtain more information on Dawood’s hospitalisation from his relatives - Alishah Parkar (his nephew and son of Haseena Parkar) and Sajid Wagle (nephew).

A report by Times Now quoted sources saying that Dawood’s nephews have confirmed that he was not well and was facing health complications. They, however, have denied reports of him being “poisoned”.

Pakistan’s lie on Dawood Ibrahim’s base

In January 2023, Dawood’s nephew Alishah Ibrahim, in a statement to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), revealed that his uncle lives in a defence area behind Abdullah Gazi Baba Dargah in Pakistan’s Karachi along with his family.

Alishah also stated that Dawood has a second wife who is Pakistani and he has allegedly lied about divorcing his first wife.

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“Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar wife’s name is Maizabin and he is having three daughters Marukh (married to Junaid, son of Javed Miandad), Mehrin (married) and Maziya (unmarried) and one son Mohin Nawaz (married),” Alishah said in the statement to NIA which was probing a case pertaining to a global terrorist network and a criminal syndicate involved in terrorist and criminal activities in India.

Pakistan confirmed Dawood Ibrahim living in Karachi

In August 2020, the Pakistan government admitted that Dawood Ibrahim lives in Karachi. The admission came in a list of 88 banned terror groups disclosed as part of the country’s efforts to wriggle out of tough financial sanctions for helping terrorists.

As per authorities in Pakistan, Dawood Ibrahim’s address is “White House, Near Saudi Mosque, Clifton” in Karachi, Pakistan. He also has other properties listed as “House Nu 37 - 30th Street - defence, Housing Authority, Karachi” and “Palatial bungalow in the hilly area of Noorabad in Karachi”.

The list was issued by Pakistan in an attempt to salvage its image and prevent it from being blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The country has been on FATF’s dangerous “grey list” since 2018.

And then backtracks

Within a few hours, Pakistan denied Dawood’s presence and said there was no admission that he was in Pakistan.

In July 2019, India warned Islamabad to hand over Dawood Ibrahim saying his location was “not a secret”. Pakistan back then too claimed that he was not in the country.

India’s warning to Pakistan came a day after a UK court was informed that the wanted terrorist was in exile in the country.

During the extradition trial of one of Dawood’s close aides, Jabir Moti, known to be a “high-ranking member of D-Company”, the whereabouts of Dawood were revealed to the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London.

“The head of D Company is Dawood Ibrahim, an Indian Muslim currently in exile in Pakistan. Dawood Ibrahim and his brother and top lieutenant, Anis Ibrahim, have been fugitives from India since 1993, when D Company was implicated in coordinated bombings in Mumbai that killed more than 200 people,” according to excerpts of a US Attorney’s affidavit for extradition read out by Moti’s barrister, Edward Fitzgerald.

UN confirmed Dawood Ibrahim’s six addresses in Pakistan

Back in 2016, the United Nations confirmed six addresses frequented by Dawood in Pakistan. India had, in a dossier, had cited nine addresses in its neighbouring country as those of the wanted underworld don.

The dossier was prepared by India in August 2015 as evidence to show that Dawood is holed up in Pakistan.

“Dawood is known to frequently change his locations and addresses in Pakistan. He has amassed immense property in Pakistan and moves under the protection of Pakistani agencies,” the dossier had said.

With inputs from agencies