New Delhi: Though the government told Parliament Tuesday it was unaware of the precise location of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, the intelligence agencies have always maintained that India’s most wanted fugitive is hiding in Pakistan and conducting his operations from there.
In fact, an intelligence report, sent to the government just a few weeks ago, said Dawood was in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province, primarily comprising the Khyber Pakhtun areas, under the direct control of Inter-Services Intelligence. “Within NWFP too, Dawood is on the move, constantly shifting his base and hideout every few weeks. However, he has considerably restricted his movements outside Pakistan (due to) mounting global pressure, particularly from the US,” the intelligence report states.
Indian agencies routinely track movements and activities of top terrorists like Dawood Ibrahim and Hafiz Saeed on a regular basis and keep the government informed, sources said, but added that of late they had not been able to intercept the phone calls of the underworld don. The Union home ministry, in its dossier on Dawood given to its Pakistani counterparts in the past, has even provided the transcripts of Dawood’s intercepted phone calls that confirmed his presence on the Pakistani soil.
Top intelligence and security officials feel that the government’s reply to the Lok Sabha on the Dawood issue must have been on account of an “administrative lapse or an oversight’’ as the stated position, particularly of the home ministry also has always been that Dawood Ibrahim is in Pakistan. “We know for sure that Dawood is still in Pakistan under the direct patronage of the ISI. But, he is not visiting Karachi and operates mostly from the tribal areas in the NWFP region. He is also scared of travelling to the Middle East now since most of the countries there have an extradition treaty with the US which has already declared Dawood a global terrorist,” a senior officer said.
