Pakistani author claims he met Dawood at his residence in Karachi

London: Breaking decades of narrative by the political institution of the country, media reports have revealed that a Pakistani author had met Dawood Ibrahim in his home in the Defence Housing Area in Karachi.

The report by Daily Mail claims that Pakistani author Arif Jamal met underworld don Dawood Ibrahim 'out of curiosity' through mutual acquaintances and that Dawood seemed happy when he met him and did not seem in the least bit anxious about being on the list of globally wanted terrorists.

Arif, a US-based author, said "Dawood Ibrahim lived a very free life in Karachi. It was quite easy to track him in the city. I set up an appointment through a common friend and said I wanted to interview him. Dawood met me on the promise that I would not write about our meeting. I was invited to his house. A lot of people in Karachi know Dawood personally.”

Speaking from Virginia, he added that Dawood was keen on clarifying that the charges levelled against him were untrue and that his interests lay in business. Dawood looked like the man in the images, but only a little old and worn out, Arif said.

When asked how Dawood continued living in Pakistan, he said that Dawood and his group was a part of Pakistan's strategy to bleed India by a thousand cuts and that Pakistan would support whoever is ready to act against India. He also said that no one had access to Dawood unless through the ISI. 

Arif Jamal is an expert on global jihad and the author of the authoritative book Call for Transnational Jihad: Lashkar-e-Taiba, and also a contributor to the New York Times and was a Visiting Fellow at the Centre on International Cooperation of New York University.