Is Pak still sheltering most-wanted don Dawood Ibrahim?

During the May 24-25 talks, Home Secretary RK Singh handed over to Pakistan a list of four precise coordinates with addresses of the fugitive don's residences in Islamabad and Karachi, reports Amir Mir

Is Pakistan's all-powerful security establishment still sheltering Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar? The million-dollar question has cropped up once again after India handed over to Pakistan a list of four precise coordinates, with locations and addresses, of New Delhi's most-wanted, designated global terrorist and main accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts.

The information was part of a list of 49 most-wanted terrorists, which Home Secretary RK Singh had handed over to his Pakistani counterpart Khwaja Siddique Akbar during the May 24-25, 2012, home secretary-level talks in Islamabad.

Although Islamabad keeps denying that India's most-wanted criminal-turned-fugitive is leading a luxurious life somewhere in Pakistan, New Delhi has pinpointed not just one, but four locations of Dawood in the federal capital Islamabad and the port city of Karachi.

...

Already designated an international terror financier by the United States in August 2003, Dawood is wanted in India for the 1993 Mumbai terror attacks and a series of other crimes. As per the shared list, the man behind one of the deadliest terror attacks on Indian soil has got four homes in two Pakistani cities -- two each in Islamabad and Karachi.

According to the list carrying Dawood's residential addresses, the first Karachi address is Moin Palace near Abdullah Shah Ghazi Dargah in Clifton and the other is 6/A Khyaban Tanzeem, Phase V Defence Housing Area.

In Islamabad, Dawood's hideout is an Inter-Services Intelligence safe house on Bhoubhan Hill, 20 kilometres on the road to Muree, close to Islamabad. His other residence in the Islamabad is House No 29, Street No 22, P-6/2, Margalla Road.

The most-wanted list handed given by India also has a comprehensive reference of the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack planner and a leader of the banned jihadi group Lashkar-e-Tayiba commander Sajid Majid.

According to the information India has shared with Pakistan, Sajid Majid underwent a plastic surgery after the Mumbai attacks. Pakistan, however, was non-committal on any action on the list.

...

The Indian list of 49 fugitive terrorists was handed over to Pakistan only 10 days after the US named two top aides to Dawood Ibrahim as key drug traffickers and placed sanctions on them with a view to constricting their access to global business and financial networks. The US treasury department announced on May 15 that Indian nationals Chhota Shakeel and Ibrahim Tiger Memon are key lieutenants of Dawood in his notorious D-Company operation, which smuggles narcotics around South Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

It said Mumbai-born Shakeel, 57, coordinates D Company dealings with "other organised crime and terror groups".

Memon, 52, controls D Company's businesses across South Asia and is also wanted by Indian authorities for alleged involvement in the Mumbai bombings of 1993, which killed more than 250 people and left over 700 injured.

According to a press release issued by the US treasury department on May 15, drug trafficking activities of the D-Company include smuggling of heroin and hashish from Afghanistan and Thailand to the US, Western Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa. The official designation of the two as narcotics traffickers by the treasury department effectively bans Americans and US businesses from engaging in business of any kind with them and freezes any assets they might have on US property.

Dawood, who allegedly operates from Pakistan under the shield of the ISI, is one of the most intriguing figures in the world of international terrorism, a billionaire gangster and a criminal mastermind who is linked to everyone -- from the Al Qaeda to Bollywood starlets to the East African drug cartels.

...

It is the nature of the crimes attributed to Dawood that place him at the top of India's most wanted wishlist. He figures in a list of 20 fugitives that India wants Pakistan to hand over, being the prime player used by the Pakistani intelligence establishment to foment cross-border terrorism in India.

Interestingly, the Indian claim about Pakistan sheltering Dawood Ibrahim had been confirmed by none other than General (retd) Pervez Musharraf in his November 16, 2011, interview with news channel NDTV.

To a question, Musharraf said that India's most wanted terrorist is being held in high esteem by many in Pakistan, making his extradition complicated, thus giving credence to the Indian allegations that the fugitive don may be hiding in Pakistan. When asked about the prospects of Dawood's extradition [from Pakistan to India], Musharraf said although he can't confirm his presence in Pakistan, but the fact remains that there are many in Pakistan who think he did a very good job because Indians killed Muslims in Gujarat.

"Therefore Dawood reacted. So he is held in high esteem," said Musharraf, clearly suggesting that the don may be enjoying refuge in Pakistan.

...

On the other hand, the high-ups in Islamabad have constantly denied that Dawood Ibrahim was operating from Pakistan. Currently, on the most wanted list of Interpol for his involvement in organised crime and counterfeiting and ranking No 4 on the Forbes list of the World's Top 10 most dreaded criminals, Dawood had been declared a specially designated global terrorist by the US state department due to his alleged Al Qaeda links.

According to the US treasury department's chargesheet, Dawood maintained close links with Osama bin Laden. Much to Islamabad's embarrassment, the US treasury department, among its reasons for naming Dawood in the list of the world's worst terrorists, cited intelligence reports of his connection with the Al Qaeda and the LeT.

...

...