Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday that there was no confusion as far the whereabouts of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim were concerned.
Talking to the media in the nation capital Rajnath said, “There is no scope of confusion, no confusion at all.”
The Home Minister added that he will try and clarify government’s stand tomorrow and if not then on Monday.
“Wanted to clarify this before also,” he said, as per ANI.
After making a statement in Parliament on May 05 that they were not aware of the location of Dawood – India’s most wanted fugitive, the government did a U-turn on the same day and said that the underworld don was very much in Pakistan.
“Dawood is in Pakistan. Government’s stand is consistent that he’s in Pakistan: MoS Home Kiren Rijiju had said, adding, “Do not misconstrue a statement based on specific question. Do not misconstrue intention of government.”
He had maintained that the government was pursuing the case very seriously and there had been no lapses.
“Indian government has been providing information about his whereabouts to Pakistan,” Rijiju had said, as per ANI.
The minister had also pointed out that the agencies in Pakistan were not cooperating with India. “It is well known to everybody,” he said.
Rijiju’s made the above statements to the press in the evening after Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary had said while replying to a written question of BJP MP Nityanand Rai that “the subject has not been located so far. Extradition process with regard to Dawood Ibrahim would be initiated once the subject is located.”
The written reply referred to Dawood Ibrahim as an accused in the Mumbai serial blasts of 1993 and noted that a Red Corner Notice was in existence against him.
As media carried news on the question, the government was left red faced.
The government has been maintaining for a long time that Dawood is living in Pakistan with the patronage of Pakistani security establishment.
India has also handed over to Pakistan several dossiers on Dawood, giving details about his locations in Pakistan.
On December 27, 2014, Rajnath Singh said in Lucknow that Dawood is India’s most wanted terrorist and that New Delhi has repeatedly asked Pakistan to hand him over to it.
Meanwhile, Pakistan questioned the veracity of India’s dossiers on the underworld don calling them “self-serving” and said government’s comments in Parliament on his whereabouts vindicated its sustained stand that the fugitive was not in its territory.
Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit said the comments by Chaudhary in Parliament on Tuesday justified his country’s worries on the issue and asserted that India has not placed any request with Islamabad in writing for Dawood’s extradition.
“Honestly speaking that was quite disquieting and disconcerting from our perspective and frankly that calls for some introspection. If you prepare dossiers on the basis of self-serving information, than we have every reason to be worried. Our worries are justified,” he told a TV channel, as per PTI.
Asked whether the Minister’s position vindicated Pakistan’s stand, Basit said “It does. He is not in Pakistan.”
On whether India either in the recent past or earlier had formally in writing requested extradition of the don, he said, “Not to my knowledge”.
When pressed further, he said, “Not to my knowledge because from our perspective as we have been saying our position is that he is not in Pakistan. So the question of extradition does not arise in the first instance.”