Mumbai, August 15: The don allegedly funds the overseas education of Pakistan’s armed forces officers’ children, and in turn receives assignments from Pak ISI. Sunday MID-Day media traces the making of the don in the wake of the recent link between D Company and the Naxal movement in the country
Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence has made Dawood, the son of a Mumbai cop Ibrahim Kaskar, the country’s most-wanted gangster. He also figures on number 50 in the list of the World’s Most Powerful People.
Simply put, Dawood can arrange manpower in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Mangalore, Nepal or Bangladesh, which could be a relatively difficult task for the Pakistani ISI. His men have access to police stations in the city and the corridors of power at Mantralaya. Dawood’s right-hand-man Chhota Shakeel can direct organised killings in the city even today.
Just recently, Altaf alias Rakesh, a Chhota Shakeel aide, was in the news when his aides were arrested in Bengaluru for fuelling the Naxal movement in the country. Altaf, allegedly in Dubai had been pumping in Hawala to mobilise this movement.
In Riyadh, Dawood aide, Yusoof Madoor, 31, was arrested recently for plotting to set up a D Company base in coastal Karnataka. Indian investigation teams await Madoor’s deportation to India, who is wanted in the country for 18 cases including extortion, murder, attempt to murder and dacoity.
Police sources informed that Dawood is respected in ISI circles because of his stronghold on the financial capital of India. Destablising the country’s economy is top on the list of the Pakistani agency. Dawood, CEO of the D Company, enjoys tremendous contracts among large number of tainted businessmen and builders operating in Central and South Mumbai. Across the country, Dawood alias Anaconda (earlier names Haji Saab, Muchhad, Bull Dog) has a franchise of gangsters, which is known to the ISI. The Pakistani agency pays Dawood to accomplish targets. Mumbai police investigations have indicated that Dawood is the main agent for subversive activities in India. His clandestine operations include smuggling of counterfeit notes, arming loyal groups, harbouring dangerous gangsters to acting as a conduit for terror group funds.
Dawood directly or indirectly controls almost every crime syndicate across the Indian subcontinent. Thousands of gangsters have rubbed shoulders with him in the past 35 years, soon after he was initiated to crime on the streets of Mumbai.
Dawood’s close links with the ISI are attributed to the fact that he funds the overseas education of the kin of several Pakistani senior armed forces and ISI officers. The unholy nexus has resulted in siphoning crores earmarked for an anti-India campaign, a recent Indian intelligence report indicates.
In return, Pakistan’s top brass outsource jobs to him in India. “In fact, he is an extension of Pakistan’s ISI, who are using him to the hilt,” said Additional Director Rakesh Maria in an earlier interview.
There are unconfirmed reports that Dawood and his cronies share a whopping booty of around Rs 10,000 crore. He has business interests in real estate, betting, bullion, shipping, malls, film piracy and films.
A senior police officer, under condition of anonymity, confessed that official police records have barely registered five cases where Dawood Ibrahim could be tried in the court of law, even though he may be named in over 100 shootouts and killings in the past decade. “There are cases where Dawood is not even remotely linked. These cases cannot stand trials and this raises questions about Dawood’s connections in Mumbai,” the officer pointed out. There are dons like Khalid Pehalwan, KK or Iqbal Mirchi and others who may be financially more powerful. Their names do not figure during investigations because they are not involved in killings.
Dawood’s former lieutenant Rajendra Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan holds sway over the northern suburbs of Mumbai and is considered the second largest gang in the city. While Dawood’s name is used to spread terror, the most destructive crimes are plotted and executed by his trusted lieutenant Chhota Shakeel.
Courtesy: MID-DAY