Dawood is at Afghan-Pak border, says Rajnath

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New Delhi, Nov 22, 2014: Home Minister Rajnath Singh has disclosed that underworld don Dawood Ibrahim is currently staying along the Pak-Afghan border, sheltered by Pakistan.

He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif to hand over Dawood to India to stand trial for the grave charges against him.

“When the Pakistan premier came to India, prime minister told him to hand over Dawood. We are pursuing it. We are trying to build diplomatic pressure as he is a most-wanted criminal. Right now, he is along the (Pakistan-) Afghanistan border,” said Singh at a media event on Saturday.

Asked whether India would carry out a “hot pursuit” to nab Dawood, Singh told the HT Leadership Summit: “Give us time. Please wait. Strategy cannot be divulged. There is no time-frame, but we are trying so that Pakistan hands over Dawood as early as possible.”
Wanted for his role in the 1993 Mumbai blasts that killed 250 people, Dawood is believed to be living in Pakistan under the patronage of the country’s dreaded spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

According to Singh, Dawood has been living in Pakistan for some years, and despite many requests by India, the neighbouring country has not handed him over.
Singh recalled that slain al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was in Pakistan for a long time, and could not have stayed there without the ISI’s help.

Singh’s revelation comes after the inclusion of Dawood Ibrahim’s name in an Indo-US joint statement in September for the first time—after Modi’s talks with US President Barrack Obama about cooperation in fighting terror and criminal networks.

The US, which went along with India’s suggestion, had in 2003 named Dawood a global terrorist for his links with the Lashkar-e-Toiba and al-Qaeda. India, it is learnt, also shared with the US proof of Dawood’s presence in Pakistan.

Modi had said during the Lok Sabha poll campaign that he would bring Dawood back to India if voted to power.

On whether India would make efforts to have dialogues with Pakistan, the home minister said, “There should be efforts from the Pakistani side too to maintain cordial relations. We always want friendly relations. But from their side, there should be at least talk of friendship.”

Singh reiterated that terrorism in India is not home-grown but externally aided.