'No request to US from India to track down Dawood Ibrahim'

Government on Wednesday said it has not made any request to the US to track down the country's most wanted fugitive Dawood Ibrahim.

"No formal request has been made by this ministry to the US government," Minister of State for Home Mullappally Ramachandran informed Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

The government's response came in reply to a question of Shiv Sena member Anil Desai, who asked whether it is a fact that government has made a request to the US government to track down the wanted terrorist.

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde had recently said that Dawood is in Pakistan and joint efforts with the US were being made to nab him.

"As per our information, Dawood is in Pakistan. When I went to America last year to discuss inland security, I met the Attorney General who looks after the FBI.

"I talked to him and we decided that we will pass whatever information we have on Dawood amongst each other. We decided we will make joint efforts," Shinde had said on January 10.

Ramachandran said Dawood is wanted in Mumbai bomb blast of 1993 and a Red Corner notice is in existence. The United National Security Council has also issued a special notice against him. The subject has been located so far, he said.

The minister said Red Corner notices against 68 terrorists, who have escaped from the country, have been issued by the Interpol headquarters on the requests of the Indian law enforcement agencies since 2004.

"Six terrorists have been extradited or deported to India by Interpol member countries during the last ten years," he said.