Dawood gang to double up for Lashkar

The Dawood Ibrahim gang is expected to play a larger role on the Lashkar-e-Tayiba's behalf, reveal officials in the Intelligence Bureau.

Intercepts have revealed that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence directorate has specific plans for the gang, IB sources told rediff.com

The IB says the ISI and Lashkar are getting increasingly desperate following the crackdown on various terror outfits in India. So the 'D company', as Ibrahim's underworld empire is often referred to, will do what the Students Islamic Movement of India could not.

The crackdown on SIMI and the Indian Mujahideen has weakened the Lashkar network. The recent terror attacks on Mumbai brought the Lashkar's Indian operations under the security agencies's scanner like never before.

The IB says the 'D company' has started to penetrate into Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, from where Lashkar drew the bulk of its cadres.

The immediate problem Lashkar faces is a reduction in the supply of arms and other material to carry out terror strikes. Ibrahim has been asked to use his smuggling channels to send in arms and ammunition.

The sea route into Mangalore is used by Ibrahim's gang for smuggling, but the IB sources say he will now try and push arms and other material through this channel. The IB has alerted coastal agencies about this possibility and asked them to remain on high alert.

While the Mangalore route will be used to smuggle in weapons, which will be transported to other parts of the country, Mumbai will be where Ibrahim's gang will raise funds for terror operations.