Dawood Ibrahim & Underworld Watch Thread

[fanne]

Varoon, it is said that even Ravana knew a lot of Slokas and on his death bed, Sri Rama asked even Lakshmana to go and hear him out (the text is called Ravan Sanhita, rare text). That does not make him a not evil person.

I appreciate where you are coming from (in secular India some one has guts to say slokas on national TV to bolster his claim, when most of the indic crowd is either not learned enough or scared enough or not in limelight enough), but Katju is part of the problem, not the solution and he deserves every ounce of contempt that we can muster.
rgds,
fanne
PS - That does not mean one cannot learn from him

[IndraD]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 239355.cms

Markandey Katju seeks pardon for Zaibunissa in 1993 Mumbai blasts case

[Aditya_V]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 239355.cms

Markandey Katju seeks pardon for Zaibunissa in 1993 Mumbai blasts case

Next he should ask for Pardon of Yakub Memon.

[ramana]

DI's henchman arrested in UP

A shooter of notorious underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, who was on the run for the last two decades in custom officer L.D. Arora murder case, has been arrested in Uttar Pradesh, police said Thursday.


Alimuddin alias Baba was arrested late Wednesday from a house in Fatehpur, around 120 km from here, after police received a specific tip-off, an official of the Uttar Pradesh Police's Special Task Force told IANS.

Alimuddin's movements were being monitored through electronic surveillance for some time and police zeroed in on him while he was staying at the house of Shamim alias Shammu.

According to an official, he has admitted that mafia-turned-politician Babloo Srivastava, then an associate of Dawood Ibrahim, offered him money to kill Arora.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had declared an amount of Rs.100,000 on Alimuddin's head but he managed to hoodwink the federal investigation agency for two decades.

Arora, an assistant custom collector posted in Mumbai, was shot dead near his residence in Allahabad March 24, 1993. He had seized at the Mumbai airport a consignment of Dawood, containing arms and ammunition.

Babloo Srivastava planned the murder of Arora along with his two associates - Kamal Kishor Saini and Manjit Singh alias Mange Sardar - who have been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Last year, a Kanpur district judge had sentenced Babloo Srivastava to life imprisonment under Sections 302 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code for the murder of Arora.

[Austin]

Caught after 2 decades ? Likely to be the case of Company getting rid of him or some dispute within their gang .....its a way to get rid of people if they become too powerful .....Finally Justice done good riddence.

If memory serves me right L.D. Arora case was related to the largest haul of Gold biscuit by customs in early 90's and not related to arms , it was the biggest catch of D gold by custom and inspite of offer of hefty bribe Arora didnt budge and paid with his life.

I dont know why the courts dont hang them if they are put behind bars their operations still continue via mobile phone and human network .....these people become more notorious ......prison is like 3 star hotel for them where they get their work done under police protection.

[ramana]

Three news reports among others:

Was Badrish Dutt a victim of spot-fixers?

Was Badrish Dutt a victim of spot-fixers?
Friday, 17 May 2013 | Pramod Kumar Singh / Mahender Singh Manral | New Delhi

The sordid spot-fixing scandal could have been unraveled on May 11 itself had Inspector Badrish Dutt not died under mysterious circumstances on the intervening night of May 10 and 11. The raid was then aborted owing to the sad demise of Dutt, who was to lead the Special Cell team to Mumbai to carry out the operation.

Whether he was murdered or he committed suicide is mired in mystery even now.

It was Inspector Badrish Dutt, who intercepted a conversation between bookies and unidentified players about a specially devised ‘sign language’ meant for spot-fixing a month ago. An ace interceptor who had developed unmatched expertise in tracking and listening to conversations, Dutt brought it to the knowledge of his immediate superiors in the Special Cell.

It was a chance interception during an investigation pertaining to an organised crime. The people involved in the conversation were arguing over some payment. It later dawned on Dutt that it was in fact an important conversation involving spot-fixing in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) session. This was brought to the notice of Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar, himself a cricket aficionado, who gave the go-ahead and the operation was launched to bring the culprits to justice.

Interestingly, the match fixing scandal involving South African Captain Hansie Cronje too was busted after Inspector Ishwar Singh posted with the Crime Branch tapped a conversation between an underworld operative hiding in a Gulf country and Kishan Kumar, the younger brother of T-Series owner late Gulshan Kumar. Inspector Dutt who was tasked to carry out arrests died before he could complete the task.

When asked whether there was any link behind the death of Inspector Dutt since he was the first Investigating Officer of the spot-fixing scandal, Delhi Police Commissioner denied the same. He said there was no connection between the two cases. However, sources said that there were many reasons to link Mumbai Underworld behind the shocking death of Dutt who was actively pursuing the leads till he died on the intervening night of May 10 and 11. He was given the official permission just a day before by the Delhi Police Commissioner to go ahead with the operation.

He was asked to lead the Special Cell team to Mumbai that was supposed to leave on the early hours of May 11. His colleagues were frantically trying to get in touch with him but he did not answer the calls. Worried over this strange happening, Dutt's colleagues went to the second floor flat in Ardee City of Gurgaon's Sector -52, where they found his and Geeta Sharma's bodies.

Initially jolted by the death of their colleague Dutt, the sleuths of Special Cell regrouped and carried out the successful operation to nab 11 bookies who were indulging in post fixing with Shantakumaran Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankit Chavan of Rajasthan Royals.

Mumbai cops' raid almost killed Delhi Police sting!

The Kalbadevi crackdown by Mumbai Police on Tuesday night almost killed Delhi Police's operation to identify and nab players involved in spot fixing.

Mumbai Police arrested Ramesh Vyas (52) a resident of Mumbai's posh Napean Sea Road, for arranging conference calls between overseas players and Indian bookies.

Ramesh Vyas, a big-time bookie and a member of Dawood Ibrahim's betting and fixing syndicate was on the radar of the Delhi Police and was part of the racket that was busted by the Special Cell.

When Vyas was arrested by Mumbai Police, 30 lines were found to be active and 30 people were heard conversing with 30 Indian bookies.

The crackdown hit the Delhi Police operation, as immediately after the Kalbadevi raid, bookies started transmitting the message, "Rates have come down to Rs one", indicating that all was not well and all bookings must stop immediately. Following this, all bookies across the country went quiet and all modes of communications were snapped.

This sudden development made the task of Delhi Police difficult and the team could not net more players from other teams who were suspected to be involved in spot fixing.

However, despite this setback and the tragic death of Inspector Badrish Dutt, who was its first Investigating Officer (IO), Delhi Police took the challenge of unmasking the faces behind this sordid episode, head on.

Bookies that were found to be in constant touch with their Pakistani counterparts have been identified as Lokesh, Bharat, Jupiter, Tinku from Delhi and Sanjay, Noka, Kaku and Kothari from Jaipur.

Sources in Delhi Police said that the parallel investigation launched by Mumbai Police was meant to offset its ongoing probe into spot fixing. Investigators said that Vyas is Dawood Ibrahim's henchman and controls a major part of this illegal activity.

Interestingly, Mumbai Police had arrested Ramesh Vyas two days before the Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians match.

Cops were astounded to find a host of mobile and landlines installed in Vyas' house. He was operating with a mind-boggling 92 cell phones and 30 landlines with call forwarding facilities. The calls were being routed to Pakistan via Dubai. This was done with the purpose of masking the identities of D-Company operatives.

Investigations have led police to another bookie identified as Sunil Abhichandani alias Sunil Dubai, who is also Dawood Ibrahim's trusted lieutenant and operates from Dubai.

Sunil Dubai's name had figured prominently in the spot fixing scandal involving three Rajasthan Royals players.

Mumbai Police had issued a Look Out Circular against Sunil Dubai in 2012 after his name surfaced during investigations.

However, there are allegations that certain top Mumbai police officers have been shielding Sunil Dubai and their intervention had ensured that the Mumbai Police Crime Branch did not renew the Red Corner Notice issued by Interpol for his arrest.
This in a way helped Sunil Dubai's family as now he can return to Mumbai anytime without fearing immediate arrest on arrival.

D-Company's money-bunny trap for players

It was a secret meeting between Shantakumaran Sreesanth and a key member of Dawood Ibrahim Syndicate involved in match fixing in a posh Ambience Mall in Gurgaon some 10 weeks ago. This meeting was the precursor to what was to be done by the bookies who were more interested in 'spot-fixing' as it paid rich dividends to them. Delhi Police Inspector Badrish Dutt had intercepted the conversation.

The bookie owing allegiance to the D-Company was obviously cock-a-hoop after Sreesanth readily agreed to the wishes of D-Company and made a call to Pakistan. The location of the caller was tracked to Gurgaon. The real-time tracking helped sleuths to zero in on the exact location of the caller and they identified the person sitting somewhere in Karachi, Pakistan and the ‘Operation to identify the spot fixers’ was launched by the Delhi Police. It took over 100 hours of intercepted conversation between the bookies and the three players of Rajasthan Royals and several weeks of painstaking investigation to unmask the ‘cheats’ who brought disrepute to Indian Cricket.

“It’s a world of sleaze, sex and the lure of ill-gotten easy money that made the players to agree to the unethical practice. Bookies used every trick in the book, including providing escorts and high-end call girls to entice Sreesanth and Ajit Chandila. Ankeet Chavan, who was allegedly foxed by Chandila to bowl that 2nd over against Mumbai Indians on Wednesday night match, did not accept girls from the bookies,” a police official said.

Special Cell sleuths then started tracking the phone conversations of these girls and women and that opened a can of worms. Investigations revealed that these call girls were also used to coerce the duo to coax others to join the party. Investigators have found that the two arrested bookies, Manan and Chand, reportedly provided calls girls to Sreesanth and Ajit Chandila on at least three occasions during their stay in Mumbai, Chandigarh and Jaipur.

A dedicated team of officers of Special Cell was following the leads. It was tasked to unravel the unholy syndicate of bookies and cricket player and an extensive electronic surveillance was mounted on Jiju Janardhan, a club lever of Ernakulam club, a bookie identified as Chandresh, alias Jupiter. It was Jupiter whose connections with the D-Company were established by the investigators.

His call details led the cops to Jiju Janardhan, who had played with the same Ernakulam club. Sleuths at Special Cell's Lodhi Road office became more interested after they found that Jupiter was talking constantly to Jiju Janardhan, who was only a chum of Sreesanth and had produced a video album ‘Jaago India’ for Sreesanth. The recordings were then analysed by the investigators and the typical ‘modus operandi’ adopted by rogue D-Company and its stooges to tutor players was decoded.

The recordings made the task easier as the conversations were matched with the video footage of the three matches played by Rajasthan Royals with Pune Warriors India (PWI) on May 5, against Kings XI Punjab at Mohali on May 9 and against Mumbai Indians at Mumbai on May 15. Jupiter, now in the custody of Delhi Police, was operating for Sunil Dubai.

It would be interesting to mention here that one of the 11 bookies arrested by Delhi Police is Amit Singh, a cricketer who had played with Rajasthan Royals. He had played for Shilpa Shetty’s team from 2009 to 2012. He was released only last year by the Rajasthan Royals management. Amit Singh then turned a bookie and started using his connections with his former teammates to make quick bucks.

Just keep the money, don’t discuss source on phone, Chandila told wife

One of the calls intercepted by the police between Ajit Chandila and his wife has revealed that Chandila’s wife was surprised with the huge amount money being sent to home by him. “She questioned (on phone) Chandila and asked him how he is getting the money even before the IPL season is over. But he told his wife to just keep the money saying that few things couldn’t be discussed on the phone,” sources said.

[Philip]

The sordid and sleazy drama being played out with the IPL scandal ,shows how low the noble game of cricket has sunk in India,under the current generation of BCCI honchos.The current president,was recently in the news for his fancy cars, seized by he CBI just weeks ago!

<http://www.khelnama.com/130325/cricket/ ... ax-evasion>

The game of cricket had earlier sunk to the level of the gutter with earlier match-fixing scams involving Azhar,Cronje,etc.But the latest scandal shows that the IPL is nothing but a tamasha organised for the criminal underworld,which has its head in Pak.Under the BCCI,cricket in India is now in the sewer.

[sunnyP]

IPL spot-fixing: Links to Dawood Ibrahim revealed, demands for Srinivsan's resignation grow stronger

Calls for Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president N. Srinivasan's resignation just got stronger amidst revelations by Delhi Police that fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim allegedly had links to the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot fixing scandal.

The suspected links with mafia were confirmed by Delhi Police, who told a Delhi court that the IPL spot fixing scandal was allegedly linked to fugitive underworld don Dawood as bookie Ashwini Aggarwal alias Tinku Mandey was in touch with him and his aides.

http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/1840734/r ... w-stronger

[ramana]

However Farooq Abdullah says no need for N Srinivasan to resign as nothing is proven.

I didn't know what his(FA) cricket angle is?

[ramana]

I found that Farooq Abdullah is a BCCI board member along with Narendra Modi!

[Lalmohan]

BCCI appears to be some sort of de-facto durbar/cabinet for the real rajah's of hindoostan

[ramana]

X-post....

This news report of Monday, May 27 in Saamna newspaper covers the IPL betting episode. It links the internal struggles of the Mumbai Police, underworld, politicians, RE barons, Subhash Chandra as well as D company bookies and fixers.

http://epaper.hindisaamana.com/epaperim ... 357453.JPG

It states that thousands of crores earned by Pawarful people were used in campaigning for elections. Due to this improper wealth distribution, INC has done "nasbandi" (sterilisation) of Lalit Modi. As a result, he can only remain in London till some time.

Someone with good translation skills may please translate the article...

[sunnyP]

IPL spot-fixing: Dawood Ibrahim, Chhota Shakeel named co-accused, MCOCA invoked

New Delhi: The Delhi Police today named underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his aide Chhota Shakeel as co-accused in the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing case and invoked provisions of the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against them and their syndicate. The Delhi Police today also told a trial court that Dawood's syndicate controls gambling in India through hawala channels and also fixes the rates of gambling.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/ipl-s ... -ja-375277

[ramana]

Is Pawar far behind now that D gang is named?

[sunnyP]

IPL spot-fixing chargesheet to describe Dawood Ibrahim as head of fixing and betting: sources

Underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and Chota Shakeel will be named as accused in the case. This will be the first time in more than a decade that Dawood is named as an accused in any case.

Dawood and Chota Shakeel will be described as fountain heads, who are controlling the fixing and betting syndicate in India. Police are likely to claim that Dawood was finalising betting rates himself.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/ipl-s ... herstories

[ramana]

http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... 7#p1488817

^^ brave TSP-ian writing a article on D and calling him a "Indian terrorist"

Will India ever mount an operation to capture Dawood Ibrahim?

Ten years ago on a balmy, sunny day in Karachi, my father asked me to accompany him to a great seth’s house. People in Karachi sometimes gather at houses of major industrialists’ to see their impressive sacrificial animals, purchased for Bakra Eid.

I was only too eager to go to one such grand place which turned out to be at a distance of just two kilometres from my house. When we arrived, we found crowds of people gawking at expensive animals. As I took in the sights and sounds, the owner of the house came out, flanked by his guards and kids.

I wondered aloud who this intriguing man could be, my father chuckled: “He has many names. In India, he’s the most wanted man. And here some know him as Ibrahim Mushtaq and others call him Tiger Memon!”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given my age, this didn’t mean a whole lot to me at that time. But it would soon change.

Indian terrorists { Even our "secular" junta dont use such direct terms}, it became clear to me, had integrated well in Pakistan’s society.

When I went to Karachi next, I tried conducting my own investigation. I knew Tiger Memon’s house and had seen the state patronage he was living under, but I was more interested in the even bigger fish who was also said to be living in Karachi, and was the main accused in the 1993 Bombay blasts.

It didn’t take a lot of finding-out. Dawood Ibrahim, who featured among the top in Forbes list of most wanted dreaded criminals, was living openly in Clifton, Block 4, Karachi, near Café Flo, known as an elite hang-out. Last year when I visited Karachi, I asked my friends where Dawood Ibrahim lived and I was told time and again the same location.

When I went to that particular area, I observed containers had been put-up and the street was blockaded. People were frisked and IDs checked before one could be granted entry into the mansion. Pakistan Army Rangers patrolled the road.

I realised that Pakistani journalists weren’t very keen to chase up this fantastic story because they did not want to suffer the same fate as Daniel Pearl, Saleem Shehzad and Ghulam Hasnain.

Ghulam Hasnain wrote a wonderfully detailed account of Dawood’s lavish lifestyle in Karachi and Lahore. Subsequently, he was kidnapped and when he returned, he had suffered several fractures on his body.

American journalists do not write about him either, because they are not interested in Dawood Ibrahim. Also, America needs Pakistan to buttress its Afghan policy and support a peace deal with the Taliban. It is for this reason that the American government and media do not feel the need to pressurise Pakistan to stop supporting Dawood Ibrahim.

If India has any intentions of ever capturing Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon—or other top terrorists, Maulana Masood Azhar and Hafiz Muhammad Saeed—it needs, first, to rid itself of the illusion that Pakistan’s criminal justice will help.

Take the example of Hafiz Saeed: Known throughout the world as a terrorist, at home he’s a television celebrity, represented as a pious man. Back in 2009, Saeed was acquitted of several terrorism-related charges by the Lahore High Court. The prosecution lawyer, Latif Khosa, convinced the judge that Saeed had links to al Qaeda. But the judge still ruled in Saeed’s favour, since having connections with al Qaeda was no offence under Pakistani law.

Imagine that a country which has lost over 50,000 of its citizens to al Qaeda supported militants, and has suffered a $70 billion economic loss, is still unable to pass a legislation banning al Qaeda. This goes to show what Pakistan’s priorities are.

The Pakistan government’s only strategy is denial. Will India eventually mount an operation to get Dawood Ibrahim, as shown in D Day, akin to the one America mounted against Osama bin Laden? Or will India keep on waiting endlessly for Pakistan to punish those terrorists who are causing mayhem in India and inciting violence from across the border?

Only time will tell.

Anas Abbas is an investigative Counter Terrorism Analyst. He blogs at aacounterterror.wordpress.com and tweets at @Anas_Abbas1.

As hard-hitting as it gets!!

[Aaryan]

Found two very interesting reads on Dawood.
http://www.hindinest.com/srajan/02948.h ... .gl/z4NXMz
http://www.firstpost.com/india/will-ind ... 93529.html

[ramana]

Aaryan, The first link doesn't open. Please post the content. Thanks, ramana

[anishns]

^^^

http://www.hindinest.com/srajan/02948.htm


Quite an interesting read so, posting in full

The main text of the NEWS LINE magazine about Daud Ibrahim
Portrait of a Don
The story of Mumbai's underworld don, Dawood Ibrahim, reads like a page from The Godfather.
By Ghulam Hasnain

"To win the loyalty of a person is the most difficult task in the world," Dawood Ibrahim, 46, would tell his brother gangsters. This former street urchin and son of a Mumbai police constable seems to have managed to earn it manifold. Hated by many, Dawood's employees and associates adore him, and would go to any length for him, including murder.

People who have worked for this Mumbai underworld don, known as the 'Gold Man,' maintain he never abandons his men. He is also unfailingly courteous and unstintingly generous. "If you are having dinner with him, he will make sure he starts after everyone else. If you ask him for money, he will never question how much you want. He hands out a substantial sum and if you ask how much of it you can keep, he says, 'It's all yours, take whatever you want.'" But Dawood does not brook fools either, or those who disobey him. And those who betray him usually do so at the cost of their lives.

Ibrahim lives like a king. Home is a palatial house spread over 6,000 square yds, boasting a pool, tennis courts, snooker room and a private, hi-tech gym. He wears designer clothes, drives top of the line Mercedes' and luxurious four-wheel drives, sports a half-a-million rupee Patek Phillipe wristwatch, and showers money on starlets and prostitutes. He bought Lahore model, Saba, with whom he reportedly had a passionate involvement, a house and a car. Nor does he shirk his obligations: Mandakini, of Ram Teri Ganga Maili fame, former Bollywood actress with whom he had a child is reportedly still being supported by him.

His daily regimen is also rather kingly. He wakes in the afternoon. After a swim and shower, he has breakfast. In the late afternoon, he gives his employees an audience where he briefs them on their assignments and they give him daily reports of his myriad businesses.

If in the mood, he engages in a game of cricket or snooker with friends. And as the sun sets, Dawood and his party set off for any one of his 'safe houses' in Karachi for an evening of revelry - usually comprising drinks (Black Label is his preference), mujras and gambling. The long-married Dawood's passion for women has made him a favoured client for local pimps. His current liaison notwithstanding, he whets his allegedly large sexual appetite with a variety of women.

"He prefers virgins, preferably young girls. And he is a good paymaster. If the market rate for a woman is 10,000 rupees, Dawood pays 100,000 rupees. He is thus always surrounded by Pakistan's top call girls," discloses one of his family friends.

Carousing through the night, Dawood and his companions quit only at dawn and collectively offer fajr prayers. This has been Dawood Ibrahim's routine for several years.

From petty street urchin to don of the Mumbai underworld, Dawood's life makes for a fascinating story.
Dawood seems to have realised early in life that crime paid. His petty exploits sometimes landed him in trouble, but his father's position as a policeman saved him from being apprehended on several occasions. Soon the Mumbai underworld started taking note of him.

Initially operating independently, Dawood formed his own gang, which grew into a mega crime network over the years. Both Hindus and Muslims worked for him, pursuing his by now multiple business interests, which included drugs, mediating in business disputes, evicting tenants from old buildings and clearing land for purposes of construction.

Ibrahim's interests soon led him to Bollywood where he became a major film financier. At his lavish parties, there was never a shortage of the mega stars of the day. "They wouldn't dare refuse an invitation," says a friend, who maintains that those who opted out on account of shooting schedules would suddenly find their dates had been cancelled or postponed.

Growing Hindu-Muslim tension, fuelled by other underworld dons, which climaxed after the Babri mosque demolition, changed everything. The ensuing blasts in Mumbai, and the communal riots triggered by the underworld itself, caused the Dawood Ibrahim gang to splinter. One of his top lieutenants, Chota Rajan, often described by Ibrahim as one of his 'nauratans,' (nine jewels) defected and formed his own group consisting mainly of Hindu boys. Thereafter, Ibrahim was accused of masterminding the blasts, even though he was out of town at the time. He could never return to India. Dubai, which might have been a natural alternative residence, was ruled out because of an Interpol alert for Dawood's arrest - the UAE and India have an extradition treaty.

Thus Dawood fled to Pakistan, managing also to subsequently smuggle his family, comprising his wife, four daughters and a son, and certain close associates and their families out of Mumbai. (One daughter, 12, subsequently died of malaria and is buried in Pakistan). Today they are all Pakistani passport holders.

For the Muslims of Mumbai, Dawood's role in the blasts makes him a hero. "You cannot imagine the behaviour of the Hindus towards us before the blasts. They would hurl insults at our veiled women, ridicule us and mock our beards. The blasts changed everything. Now they cannot underestimate our strength; they are afraid of us," said a shopkeeper from Dawood Ibrahim's old mohalla on Mohammad Ali Road, a largely Muslim neighbourhood, whose residents shun the press and fiercely guard their privacy.
In Pakistan meanwhile, Dawood managed to establish another huge empire, comprising both legitimate and illegitimate businesses. In fact, the last few years have witnessed Dawood emerge as the don of Karachi.

Dawood and his men have made heavy investments in prime properties in Karachi and Islamabad, and are major players in the Karachi bourse and in the parallel credit system business - hundi. Dawood is also said to have rescued Pakistan's Central Bank which was in crisis at one point, by providing a huge dollar loan. His businesses include gold and drug smuggling. The gang is also allegedly heavily involved in match-fixing. Dawood's influence among the Pakistani cricket players is so well known that a senior Pakistan cricket official met Dawood to get the names of those Pakistani cricketers involved in betting.
Some of the Pakistani cricket players admit that at one time or another, they have sought Dawood's help, financial or otherwise. Javed Miandad is allegedly very close to Dawood Ibrahim, and his recent stint in cricket, despite the opposition from other players, was reportedly at Dawood's behest.
Dawood's sphere of influence has also encompassed the business community, with businessmen increasingly approaching Dawood to settle their financial disputes with other businessmen or for financial bailouts. Some former MQM militants are apparently also working for Dawood as trouble-shooters. However, Dawood's growing influence has irked Karachi's powerful ethnic group, the mohajirs, who feel Dawood is trespassing on their domain as more and more people are now looking to Dawood to sort out their problems. "Earlier, whether it was a case of financial dispute or the construction or regularisation of an illegal building, people came to us for help. Now all of them are going to Dawood," remarked a former leader of Altaf Hussain's MQM.

Dawood's business activities are not confined to the subcontinent. His network extends to several countries of the African continent, and to Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Dubai, Germany, France and UK. His net worth has been estimated at close to 30 billion rupees.
Meanwhile, not only have the Pakistani authorities turned a blind eye to the gang's activities within Pakistan, but many in the corridors of power have partaken of Dawood's hospitality. Dawood often throws lavish mujras for Pakistani politicians and bureaucrats. A recent guest was a former caretaker Prime Minister.

These are not the only members of the establishment who have close ties with Dawood. He is said to have the protection of assorted intelligence agencies. In fact, Dawood and his men move around the city guarded by heavy escorts of armed men in civvies believed to be personnel of a top Pakistani security agency.

A number of government undercover agents, who came into contact with Dawood because of their official duties, are now, in fact, working for him. "A major serves him a glass of water. Nearly all the men who surround him for security reasons are either retired or serving officers,"claims an MQM activist. "And he keeps them happy - buying them expensive apartments and showering them with favours. So they are more loyal to Dawood than the government of Pakistan."

Why is he allowed to operate with such impunity?

According to informed sources, Dawood is Pakistan's number one espionage operative. His men in Mumbai help him get whatever information he needs for Pakistan. Rumour has it that sometimes his men in Karachi accompany Pakistani intelligence agents to the airports to scan arriving passengers and identify RAW agents. Both Dawood and his lieutenant Chota Shakeel, who have international satellite telephones and mobile roaming facilities, are in constant touch with their people in India and are allegedly able to garner valuable information for local agencies.

But Dawood has not severed all ties with India - or even with Hindu nationalists.

Dawood and his men might claim to be the champions of the Indian Muslims, but he continues to have close business ties with the Hindu mafia. One of his close associates claims that Dawood even has joint business interests with the son of the Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena leader, Bal Thackeray, public pronouncements of fierce enmity between the two notwithstanding.

There is evidence to indicate that Dawood is also still financing Bollywood films. Early this year, the Mumbai police arrested Bharat Shah, the producer of the Indian film Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, after proving that the film was financed by Dawood Ibrahim. And there is nostalgia for the home left behind. Dawood is said to often cry for Mumbai.

"Mumbai was Mumbai. There we had everything, here one cannot have the life or the fun we did in India," said one of Dawood's associates.

****

It was the normal afternoon traffic rush on the Malir road. As a prison van slowed down before the Malir Bridge, several armed men who were lying in wait on both sides of the bridge, showered it with a hail of Kalashnikov bullets. The shooting was so intense that none of the 10 policemen who were escorting underworld gangster, Shoaib Khan aka Shoaib Rummy walla, back to prison got a chance to even fire back. The lightning attack left four policemen dead, while Karachi's top gambling den operator, Shoaib Khan, two pedestrians and four other policemen received multiple bullet wounds. Their mission accomplished, the attackers left unhurriedly in waiting cars watched by horrified motorists. A few hours later, the police found the abandoned vehicles in nearby villages.

Senior police officials believe the attack was carried out by the Haji Ibrahim Bholoo group. Bholoo, Shoaib's former business partner, has been missing since January this year and Shoaib is being held responsible for Ibrahim Bholoo's disappearance and possible murder.

Karachi's two rival underworld gangs, both working for the notorious Mumbai don, Dawood Ibrahim, are now settling their scores on the streets of Karachi. Dawood Ibrahim and his team, Mumbai's notorious underworld clan including his righthand man Chota Shakeel and Jamal Memon, are on India's most wanted list for a series of bomb blasts in Mumbai and other criminal activites. After the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts, the gang have made Karachi their new home and base of operations. Living under fake names and IDs, and provided protection by government agencies, they have built up their underworld empire in Karachi employing local talent like Shoaib and Bholoo.

Both Shoaib Khan and Ibrahim Bholoo started their careers from the slums of Karachi, a perfect environment for any wannabe gangster. Within a few years their underworld activities took them and their families from the slums to palatial houses in Karachi's Defence Housing Authority. The two small-time gangsters struck gold when they got in touch with the notorious Dawood Ibrahim, five or six years ago and started working for him in Karachi. From petty crimes they moved into the realm of big-time underworld operations and contract killings in Karachi and abroad.

Shoaib Khan ran a number of gambling dens in Karachi, a line he was familiar with, as his father Akhtar Ali Khan, was a satta operator and gambler in Liaquatabad. Even though Shoaib is now in custody, his gambling dens continue to operate in the city, with the biggest gambling den located in the Hockey Stadium. In the mid '90s Shoaib started a gambling den in Dubai. It was in Dubai that Shoaib made contact with Dawood through their mutual passion for gambling. Both men became friends and Shoaib took over Dawood's extortion operation in Karachi. Then in 1998, Shoaib allegedly murdered a Pakistani businessman, Irfan Goga, who had won a lot of money gambling in Shoaib's den in Dubai. Irfan's body was never recovered but his abandoned car was found in the parking lot in Dubai airport. Goga's family accused Shoaib of the murder, but before warrants could be issued, Shoaib fled to Pakistan. Dawood also knew Irfan and reportedly when he questioned Shoaib about the killing, he told Dawood that he killed Irfan because he had been abusing Dawood, something Shoaib found impossible to accept. Shoaib soon acquired a reputation for not honouring his financial commitments both in his gambling operations and otherwise.

Haji Ibrahim, alias Bholoo, was a People's Party worker and a good friend of Najeeb Ahmed, a top PSF activist, as well as other Peoples Party activists. In the early '90s he left for South Africa, where he amassed a small fortune in drugs, hawala and smuggling. Then he met Shoaib in Dubai and became his business partner. Dawood Ibrahim too had extensive drug operations in South Africa. So it was inevitable that Bholoo joined hands with Dawood Ibrahim, serving as his agent in South Africa.

Bholoo was a known contract killer. His name shot into the limelight when the mutilated body of Karachi's top bookie, Hanif Kodvavi alias Hanif Cadbury, was found in Johannesberg in 1999. Hanif had fled to South Africa after a dispute with Dawood over the payment of 800 million rupees of bet money, which Dawood apparently lost in the Sharjah Cup matches. Though Dawood and his men deny they have anything to do with Hanif Cadbury or his murder, Ibrahim Bholoo's name has been associated with carrying out the contract killing of Hanif Cadbury in South Africa for Dawood Ibrahim.

Hostilities between Bholoo and Shoaib surfaced last year, when Shoaib asked Bholoo to arrange hit men to eliminate Dawood Ibrahim's arch enemy, Chota Rajan. Till the Mumbai blasts, Chota Rajan was Dawood's right hand man. After the blasts, however, he defected and formed his own group, and ganged up with RAW to hit the business interests of his former Godfather.

Insiders claim that Bholoo, who in the past had carried out a number of contract killings for Dawood Ibrahim, immediately arranged for three activists of the now defunct Al-Zulfikar organisation to eliminate Chota Rajan. The three who were wanted in several criminal cases in Pakistan, were assured of protection and a generous pay-off if they carried out the hit on Rajan. The team of assassins from Pakistan, backed by some former Pakistani undercover agents, left for Bangkok to trace and eliminate Dawood's top foe. The Pakistani hit team succeeded in tracking down Chota Rajan who was then staying in the apartment of one of his trusted friends in a fashionable Bangkok district. The team attacked in a style similar to blockbuster Indian movies. Armed with automatic weapons and wearing ties and jackets the hit team reached the upmarket apartment building carrying a cake, giving the impression to the security at the gate that they had come to celebrate Rajan's birthday. The hit team burst into the apartment and against the underworld rule of never killing women and children, fired at the wife of Rajan's top hitman, Rohit Verma. When she tried to save her husband, both Rohit and his wife were killed. Rajan locked himself in the bathroom but was injured when the team sprayed the door with bullets. Rajan managed to slip out of the bathroom window, and hid himself in a nearby garbage dump till the police came to his rescue. He later slipped out from a Bangkok hospital after bribing the police officers who had been deputed to guard him and disappeared.

When the team returned to Karachi, Shoaib antagonised Bholoo by refusing to honour his commitment to pay the three Al-Zulfikar assassins their fee. Bholoo, who could not refuse to pay his former party comrades, paid them from his own pocket.

On January 8, Ibrahim Bholoo, visited the Defence residence of Shoaib Khan to settle another monetary dispute involving 700,000 dollars and was never seen again. Senior police officers suspect that Bholoo is already dead, though they have yet to find his remains.

Since then, the Bholoo group have been gunning for Shoaib who, moving under heavy security, consistently managed to escape the Bholoo boys. Two controversial Karachi police officials, SHO Anwar Khan and Chaudhry Aslam, have also allegedly joined the Bholoo group, to help them get Shoaib. While in South Africa, Bholoo was a key informant for the Karachi police on the activities of MQM activists taking refuge in South Africa. He was constantly feeding information to SHO Anwar Khan and Chaudhry Aslam, who were in the forefront of the army crackdown against the MQM. "When Bholoo disappeared, we thought it was our moral and ethical responsibility to help out his family," said Anwar Khan. Bholoo's family had several meetings with Dawood Ibrahim to seek his help in convincing Shoaib to divulge Bholoo's whereabouts.

Shoaib, who still had the support of Dawood Ibrahim, continued to escape arrest. Then on February 21, 2001, the situation changed. There was a shooting incident on the premises of the City Courts, where armed guards from the two rival groups exchanged fire. Shoaib, who had applied for a temporary bail before arrest warrant in Bholoo's kidnapping case from Sukkur, had come to the court to get his bail confirmed. He was escorted by ranger personnel and several armed men. Bholoo's men were waiting. Both the rangers as well as Shoaib's armed guards fired at Bholoo's supporters, who they feared might force Shoaib's arrest after lawyers told Shoaib that his bail may not be confirmed. The seven ranger personnel led by Major Abdul Majeed of Janbaz Force in Thatta and Major Tariq Hameed of Karachi, are now facing a court martial. They were reported to be regular visitors at mujra performances at Shoaib's den. On the day of the shooting at the City Court, the team of rangers apparently left their headquarters on some pretext to accompany Shoaib for his protection.

The incident forced the government to finally intervene and undercover agents approached Dawood and asked him to stop backing Shoaib. It worked and on June 14, Shoaib surrendered himself to the authorities. "Dawood was told that Karachi was not Mumbai. We told him to stop supporting Shoaib because he had killed an innocent man," said an inside source.

So far Karachi was infamous for ethnic and sectarian killing. But the arrival of underworld mega-bucks has brought a new dimension to the city's crime profile as warring gangs fight pitched battles on Karachi's streets. With Dawood Ibrahim operating out of Karachi, with the apparent blessings of the government, the Shoaib incident might well be the first of a series of Mumbai-style mafia wars.

Aaryan, The first link doesn't open. Please post the content. Thanks, ramana

[Prem Kumar]

Comment by a person using a handle called Gopi_Thomas in Firstpost's article "Will India ever mount an operation to capture Dawood". He gives several interesting tidbits about Kerala jihadi-appeasement:

An IGP of Kerala Tomin Thachankery was suspended by the Kerala MArxist govt because he went to Dubai without going thru the official approval process for foreign travel. The rumour was that he went to see Dawood and he is on the take from Dawood. The Indian ambassador sent her communique to her Delhi superiors that the IGP attended parties hosted by people with terrorist links .

The first thing the newly elected Congress led UDF govt did when they came back to power in Kerala last year was to revoke the suspension of this IG Tomin Thachankary.

[Sachin]

Comment by a person using a handle called Gopi_Thomas in Firstpost's article

Hmm.. Gopi Thomas's idea seems to be more to support/defend the commies rather than increasing any one's knowledge . Tomin Thachanakary IPS had run into controversies before. There are allegations that he had imported electronics equipment worth lakhs of rupees for his studio in Ernakulam. And this same channel was used by him and the commies to get the equipment for Kairali TV as well.

A vigilance enquiry which was going no where, is also now getting kick started again. The INC led State Govt. has not done any thing to scuttle the case so far.

[Aaryan]

Comment by a person using a handle called Gopi_Thomas in Firstpost's article "Will India ever mount an operation to capture Dawood". He gives several interesting tidbits about Kerala jihadi-appeasement:

An IGP of Kerala Tomin Thachankery was suspended by the Kerala MArxist govt because he went to Dubai without going thru the official approval process for foreign travel. The rumour was that he went to see Dawood and he is on the take from Dawood. The Indian ambassador sent her communique to her Delhi superiors that the IGP attended parties hosted by people with terrorist links .

The first thing the newly elected Congress led UDF govt did when they came back to power in Kerala last year was to revoke the suspension of this IG Tomin Thachankary.

Sir we all know that dawood has contacts in N and S block.. In fact talk to any crime journalist and you will know that how almost politician from evry patri ( left, right and central) in Maha are hand in gloves with him Leading the band will be Mr POWER.

[Austin]

^^ Dawood activities is not restricted to Terror he is also a Business man and hence Politicians do get attracted to them like a metal gets attracted to magnet because he invests their black money in his business in India and abroad and hobbies like IPL.

One of the most smartest Don out there and the most adaptable hence the most survivable till this date and richest too.

[Prem Kumar]

Austin: "most survivable" because India can be taken for a ride. I wonder how long he would have lasted had he pulled off 1993 train bombings in Israel or the US

Every day that he or Hafiz Sayeed roams openly & freely is a spit on the memories of the hundreds of innocent victims and their families

[shyamd]

^^ do you honestly think the politicians/ruling elite want him dead? If they wanted him dead he would have been dead long ago.

He does enough to keep everyone off his back - keeps everyone happy including the US

[Prem Kumar]

That's definitely a big part of the reason, in the case of Dawood.

But that doesnt explain why Hafiz Sayeed, Maulana Masood Azhar etc are all roaming free & in full public view. Pusillanimity is a good explanation

[shyamd]

The other two are a different story

[Prem Kumar]

Care to share?

[shyamd]

It's a mixture of risk v rewards, also retaliation issue and whether to kill a puppet or the guy pulling the strings (hitherto our focus is here).

[Austin]

That's definitely a big part of the reason, in the case of Dawood.

But that doesnt explain why Hafiz Sayeed, Maulana Masood Azhar etc are all roaming free & in full public view. Pusillanimity is a good explanation

It is a case of if we bump out Sayeed or Hafiz or Dawood we must be prepared for similar target assassination by them (ISI/Terrorist/Jihadist) on our top politicians ....so it is more a question of political will.

Right now all that ISI/Terrorist are targeting the civilian population in 10's in some cases 100's but they do not directly attack the Politician ( perhaps only once during Parliament attack ) , that is an acceptable damage by politician as they can easily divert the anger and people tend to forget too.

Once you target the Top Bosses of Jihadi and ISI element which RAW/IB/MI can they will start targeting our top politician etc and its a game where our politician would not want to start let alone play.

So the current situation is a happy and acceptable one for India with little threat to the top bosses in power just use the diplomatic route which every one knows wont work but gives the impression we are doing something.

With Israel and US its a different matter , Israel is ready to hit and take hit at the highest level and US has absolute power and the will to use it. We lack in both.

[Prem Kumar]

In light of our recent discussion, please read this recent article in the DNA about past attempts by RAW to take down Dawood and how the PMO stopped it!

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/1868769/r ... to-justice

Austin: I agree with your arguments that the Netas are worried about their own skin & wont act because its not their kith and kin who are affected. But I dont think LeT/ISI will go so far as to plan hits on our Netas. Two can play that game and its very destabilizing.

So, the chief motives for not taking out Dawood can be summarized as:

a) Apathy (+ Fear of retaliation): Netas or their kith/kin arent directly targeted by him
b) Complicity (+ Fear of exposure): Pawar & others directly are in cahoots with him, with substantial monetary gain. They probably even use his gang to settle personal scores. Dawood might have some dead-man switch type arrangement whereby any targeting of him opens up a pandora's box
c) Politics (+ Fear of minority alienation): Eye on Muslim votes

Motive (1) above also raises an alarming question: "How do our complicit netas know that mass bombings wont affect them directly?" Granted, many of them dont travel by 2nd class compartments. But their kith & kin need to avoid certain places at certain times.

[member_22872]

Cross posting from TIRP:
Dawood has been chased out of Pakistan: Shahryar Khan

"Dawood (Ibrahim) was in Pakistan but I believe he was chased out of Pakistan. If he is in Pakistan, he should be hounded and arrested. We cannot allow such gangsters to operate from the country," said Shahryar Khan, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's special envoy for improving relations with India.

The former diplomat stressed that if the gangster was in the country he would have been arrested by now.

First you lie. Now acknowledge, and then say " if the gangster was in the country he would have been arrested by now. But you also acknowledged he was in the country yet you didn't do anything.

So many times TSP killed and rekilled and rechased away the same terrorists it had killed and chased away years back. seems like a endless cycle, TSP must be having a blast doing and redoing the same thing.
let me thrown in the usual onliner:
Because TSP is at the forefront on war on terrorism, it too is a victim of terrorism...what do to onlee.

[member_27444]

So. The problem is not Paki or ISI or Dawood
The problem is our own Neta goondas and babooz

As usual we have all the answers but don't want to solve anything

[arun]

Various news articles on Shahryar Khan’s comment regards UN designated Mohammadden criminal turned terrorist Dawood / Daood Ibrahim who was given refuge in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Indian Politicians across the political spectrum are not buying the Islamic Republic of Pakistan’s act of contrition, if it was such a thing to begin with:

Cutting across party lines, politicians say Pak can’t be trusted on Dawood issue

Zee reports that it in the typical manner of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan the declaration that Dawood Ibrahim is not in the Islamic Republic being a half-truth as the UN designated Mohammadden criminal turned terrorist is only temporarily out of that country in order to discharge Mohammadden religious obligations in Saudi Arabia:

'Dawood Ibrahim in Jeddah, will return to Pakistan soon'

Meanwhile Shahryar Khan does a U turn on his Dawood Ibrahim statement:

Pak envoy does a U-turn on Dawood claim, says he only quoted reports

Security analyst Commodore (Retd) C Uday Bhaskar finds Shahryar Khan’s U turn predictable:

Shahryar Khan's U-turn on Dawood Ibrahim predictable: Uday Bhaskar

[ramana]

Two posts...

I am looking up Budesh for some models. That name is cropping up in some simulations a lot. Can people add in on his latests? Last known potential operational base - Manama and Dubai. How much is he really in conflict with DI? He might be the next choice for the west-Saudi-paki axis.

what simulations are these that throw up names of individuals ? Must be organisational level simulation. Anyways, DI is splintered, his ME ops are now taken over by Buddesh. His Indian networks now report to Chota Shakeel. DI himself squats and scats around secure enclaves in TSP. Buddesh came recently on Indian TV, making comments on how DI was connected deeply with ICC and was money launderer for ICC bigwigs and indulged in fixing and managing bookies.

and

The crackdown on ICC/BCCI coincides with Budesh's antics. Which sort of shows that the subcontinental networks - including possible intrusions into the state machinery - are preparing for a post-DI world.

For those who want to know who is Buddesh?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Budesh

old 1999 ind express:

http://expressindia.indianexpress.com/n ... 27080.html

Saturday, March 27, 1999
Cops break Ali Buddesh voodoo, arrest 8 of his gang members
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MUMBAI, March 26: Eight members of the Bahrain-based gangster Ali Buddesh and one belonging to a faction of Dawood Ibrahim gang were arrested on Thursday.
The gang, about which the police had little information, was named in at least four murders in the city in the last two years. A special squad attached to Unit X of the crime branch had been piecing together information on the gangsters for the last three months. The gangsters were picked up from hideouts at Malvani and Thane district, according to senior police inspector Ambadas Pote.

The arrested have been identified as the self-styled leader Anwar alias Annu Gani Sayyed (25), Prakash Koli (19), Kishor Gaikwad (20), Sachin Gaikwad (21), Sudhir Chavan (21), Rajendra Raibole (23), Bharat Angre (22) and Mangesh Patil (21).

The gang has been named in the murder of a watchman at Evershine Nagar, Malad (west) on September 27, 1998, the firing during an attempt to abduct a Mulund businessman on September 2, 1998, the firing at Bhiwandi on October 3, 1998and the firing at Topaz Bar at Grant Road on January 23 this year.

The police have also seized a revolver, two country-made revolvers, two choppers and assorted ammunition. Joint CP (Crime) D Shivanandan has expressed surprise that in the age of sophisticated weapons the gangsters were using country-made revolvers and were lucky to get away with their crimes so far. In another operation, the squad arrested a member of Anees/Qayum Ibrahim (brothers of Dawood) faction of the Dawood Ibrahim gang from a hideout at Malwani on Thursday.

Gangster Mohammed Anwar M Hussain alias Pappu (32) confessed to his involvement in the murder of gangster Gulam M Sheikh alias Kashmiri on December 17, 1997 and the murder of Salim Miya Gore and Ashraf Sheikh on October 25 last year.

The police have also recovered two fake press reporters' identity cards from two gangsters and impounded a Maruti car with `press' stickers affixed on its windscreen.

The squad members include police inspectors Sunil Deshmukh, A Tayade; APIsRaju Pillai, Rajan Ghule; PSIs Vilas Gangawane, V Kandalgaonkar, G Wankoti, Allad Gaikwad and Narayan Patil.

Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.

and India Today's

The Don's story

The Don's story
Aditya Menon | Mail Today | New Delhi, May 20, 2012 | UPDATED 16:23 IST

Dawood Ibrahim sells. India's most wanted criminal is a sure-shot subject to grab eyeballs.

With the Big D as its main protagonist, it hardly comes as a surprise that S. Hussain Zaidi's Dongri to Dubai flew off the shelves by the dozen and the first print run of the book has already been sold out.

Courtesy crime folklore in Mumbai/Bombay, the media and of course Bollywood, our desi Godfathers such as Haji Mastan, Vardarajan Mudaliar, Karim Lala, Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan have become larger than life figures. But given the relative paucity of literature on the underworld, the hunger for books on the topic is immense and a work like Dongri to Dubai was long overdue. And there was nobody as well-placed to accomplish this as Zaidi - a crime journalist with nearly two decades of experience behind him and the author of the incredibly insightful and addictively engaging narrative on the 1993 blasts, Black Friday.

Judging by the fact that it took four to five sittings to finish reading the 363-page book, Dongri to Dubai is extremely fast-paced and readable. This is no small achievement as the book traverses the long journey of the Mumbai Mafia - from petty stabbing incidents in the 1950s to its inextricable linkages with global terrorism six decades later. What could however have been a seminal work on organised crime in the Maximum City ends up as a rather filmy-style narrative of Dawood's journey from a tough guy in Dongri to the Don of Dubai, and finally a global terrorist. The Bollywood touches begin with the cover and back page itself, which contain accolades by Anil Kapoor, John Abraham and Sanjay Gupta.

The book is replete with unnecessary dialogue-baazi and drama such as Dawood's 1974 soda-bottle attack on the burly Pathan Bashu Dada, the then Don of Dongri, to avenge the humiliation of his father and elder brother, or his Bollywoodstyle speech at a meeting organised by Haji Mastan to make peace between him and the Pathans. If the depiction of the latter incident is accurate, Dawood could have given the Big B and Salim-Javed a run for their money. The Don is supposed to have snatched the cigarette Mastan was smoking and crushed it in his palm and said, "We know how to handle the fire and when to crush it with bare fingers."
Dongri to Dubai by S. Hussain Zaidi; Roli Books; Rs.350.

These flourishes are at the expense of contextualisation. Zaidi does not answer certain key questions he himself raises at the beginning: Why did Dongri emerge as the epicentre of crime in Mumbai? Why did the Muslim youth of Bombay take to crime? He has also brushed through certain extremely crucial events in Mumbai's history such as the 1982 mill strike, which changed the nature of the city and the mafia.

It is unfair to expect a book to be encyclopaedic in the ground it covers. But surely the amount of space wasted on details of the mannerisms of the various dons and a rather superfluous chapter on Osama Bin Laden's killing could have been utilised in bringing some analytical depth.

Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra (who incidentally has written the foreword for Dongri to Dubai) had a much better depiction of the wheels-within-wheels nature of crime, politics and espionage in Mumbai. This is despite it being a work of fiction, or perhaps because of it. But the book's shortcomings become obvious only because the expectations are very high, and in the final analysis, they are outweighed by its many positives.

Most importantly, Zaidi doesn't view Dawood through the lenses of hindsight, which is not an easy task given the iconic status that man has come to assume. His narrative remains true to how Dawood was viewed at the various phases of his life. For instance in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Dawood, being a policeman's son as well as a Maharashtrian, was seen at least by the Mumbai Police as a rather desirable counterweight to the Pathan gangsters. Zaidi brilliantly narrates how Dawood, which is Arabic for David, took on and defeated Mumbai's Goliaths - sadistic dons such as Alamzeb and Amirzada Pathan as well as Samad Khan, whose brutality compelled Pathan patriarch Karim Lala to throw kinship ties out of the window.

The depiction of Dawood's stint in Pakistan is also insightful, especially the fact that he has no attachment to abstract ideas such as jihad and religion. Forging links with Islamic terrorists is a pragmatic decision aimed at making himself indispensible to the Pakistanis (see extract).

Though he doesn't explicitly say so, Zaidi also pays tribute to a long list of crime journalists in the city, whom he mentions in different parts of the book - Alfred W. Davis, who reported on crime for Blitz, and his protege, Usman Gani Muqaddam; Iqbal Natiq, the Urdu journalist who was killed by the Pathans, had struck a deal between Dawood and the Mumbai Police; and the two journalists who paid the ultimate price for writing about the underworld - M.P. Iyer, who was 'silenced' by the mafia in 1970, and Jyotirmoy Dey, who was killed over four decades later.

Book extract: The terror tag

When you are declared a global terrorist, survival is difficult. Seven years ago, Pakistan used the opportunity to tighten the screws on him after the global terrorist tag by America. Dawood knew that was his death knell and soon he would become expendable. But this is where his astuteness came into play. He knew before anyone else that Pakistan was going to be outrun by fundamentalists.

Dawood thus began offering huge donations to these rogue outfits, fuelling their gargantuan growth. The money emboldened their jihadi activities and changed the dynamics of Pakistan's politics, and power equations between the ISI and jihadi organisations.

The Markaz-ud Dawa (front organisation of Lashkar-e-Tayyeba) began using Dawood's services for international money laundering. For Dawood, cleansing the Markaz funds from his bases in Europe and Southeast Asia was a cakewalk.

- Extracted from Mumbai ATS chief Rakesh Maria's interview to S. Hussain Zaidi in Dongri to Dubai

Is DI apna banda?

[member_27444]

Apna banda tha ek zamana may(maharashtra Manus), ab ka zamane may Apna Gandha ya (apna Ga&%U) ban gaya

[Atri]

Yes. Read somewhere that he considered getting entangled in 1993 blasts was his biggest mistake. It took the broken bangles of dongri women and tremendous pressure from ISI to make his smuggling conduit available for terror. People like eklavya ji should read this bit. The network of dawood was severely attacked by shivsainiks along with help of hindu gangs (pujari, manchekar, gavli etc) and perhaps helped by police during jan phase of 1992 riots.

Daawood didn't consider rioting, which many of his men did in dec phase of post babri riots, as a big deal as it could be easily swept under carpet. His big henchmen like tiger memon remained aloof in the riots and continued the good work and yet were selectively targeted by the hindu fishermen shivsainiks of Mahim fishermen colony. 1993 blasts made him too big to ignore. Hence when adilshah calls someone apna bhai, one has to take it with pinch of salt. Flying under radar was acceptable for this muslim marathi maanoos. He was chewed out because of inconvenience.

Same conduit was used for 26/11. His powerful political patrons had to run for cover when he indulged in this act. Later the formation of the adilshahi fiefdom by modern adilshah of deccan in mh provided him a chance to partially ingratiate himself with his former patrons. Its been a cautious business ever since.

The raw's gambit of staging little king as a hindu marathi counterweight to muslim marathi dawood was in sync with the strategy that i have repeatedly mentioned in Panipat related posts. This has been the traditional power reclaimation pattern of Hindus since Babar.

On the side note, It is said by the well informed chaiwalas in my network that one of the famous tv news channel, with the funny and eccentric lady as owner and host of popular primetime news shows, was established by the large donation of 400 crores by the adilshah of deccan. The source of this money might be with the bhai.

The nbjprii nexus is indeed intricate.

[Austin]

There was a news report yesterday in Marathi New Channel quoting Mumbai and Delhi police source that Dawood both kidneys have failed and he has to undergo constant dialysis.

[ramana]

Atriji, Current Adil Shah is pawarful?
Again think of the movie Inception.
And Abu Jundal's miraculous career.

[Atri]

Atriji, Current Adil Shah is pawarful?
Again think of the movie Inception.
And Abu Jundal's miraculous career.

yes... he is the current muhammad adilshah.. he will be replaced by an imbecile ali adilshah who will succumb to mogul invasion from delhi unless the shivaji of west takes over his cadres and areas...