Dawood Ibrahim (File Image)
Not many are aware that fugitive underworld don and terrorist Dawood Ibrahim was awarded an honorary rank of additional director general of Pakistan’s spy agency ISI.
On Thursday, December 26, Dawood celebrated his 69th birthday in Karachi in which several businessmen, officials of the ISI, Pakistan Army and top politicians of Pakistan were invited.
In a nutshell all this just indicates that Dawood is still an important figure in Pakistan and despite Islamabad denying his presence, he continues to be protected by the ISI. The honorary rank awarded to him is due to the work he has done for the ISI. This would include passing on information about India which he gathers from his sources. In addition to this Dawood and the ISI have an understanding that he shall hand over 40 per cent of his income earned through drug smuggling to the ISI.
Something dark is cooking
Dawood’s activities in Mumbai and other parts of the country have gone down significantly. However, the Intelligence agencies say that this is a deliberate ploy executed to ensure that the terrorist who masterminded the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts along with the Memons stays away from the limelight.
However his boys are very much present in many parts of the country and enjoy a considerable amount of clout. His shooters have been put on notice and told that they may be activated anytime. The ISI has plans of executed a series of targeted killings and is likely to activate the D-Syndicate to execute this.
This module had been activated in 2015 and had planned on killing Hindu leaders. The job was tasked to Zahidmiya Shaikh alias Jao who is based out of South Africa. He had instructed his shooters to carry out the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader, Shrish Bengali and BJP leader Pranesh Mistry. Shooters from Bharuch, Gujarat were hired for the job.
What the Intelligence agencies are gathering is that the ISI-underworld nexus may look to create communal tensions by targeting Hindu leaders in the country. The original plan was to carry out these killings in Gujarat and then gradually expand operations to other parts of the country. While the module was busted in 2017, there are plans now to reactivate newer ones.
After Gujarat the plan was to execute murders in Maharashtra. In this context the Dawood gang had activated a module in Yavatmal. Based on the instructions of the syndicate a member of the gang had stabbed a constable. This was done to protest against the beef ban in the state.
Further there are also reports that the D-gang had funded some of the opposition candidates during the recently concluded Maharashtra assembly elections. This was possibly done to drum up support ahead of the operations that the syndicate is planning on carrying out.
Will always remain an ISI asset
Officials tracking Dawood say that contrary to reports about his ailing health, Dawood remains fit and fine. With his right hand man Chhota Shakeel likely dead, his business is being operated by Haji Salim, the ISI’s new find. However Dawood still remains in control of his business. He even has businesses in several parts of the world including the United States. He controls a large section of the real estate industry in Mumbai.
In Pakistan he lives under the protection of the ISI and is still their biggest asset. He has several layers of protection at his residence and it is impossible to reach him. Currently he resides near the Rahim Faki area near a Defence Colony behind Abdullah Ghazi Baba Dargah in Karachi.
Prior to this his address was listed as White House, Near Saudi Mosque, Clifton, House Number 37, 30th Street, Defence Housing Authority, Karachi. He was moved to this address from Waziristan after immense pressure had built up on him in 2006. His passport is issued by an office in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
He is however not confined to Pakistan all the time. Thanks to the ISI, he is able to travel to Dubai frequently. The last documented travel made by him to Dubai was in July 2022.
Further he also travels to his safe houses in Jeddah, Malaysia, Singapore and Bangkok frequently. All this is possible for one of the world’s most notorious dons and terrorist thanks to the patronage he has of the ISI.
Underworld vs Underworld
The police fear that the dark days of Mumbai are likely to return. Not only is the D gang planning targeted killings, but is all set to enter into a war with its rivals. The target of the D gang would be the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.
The Bishnoi gang has threatened major Bollywood stars especially those having close links to Salman Khan. Further Bollywood’s close connections with the underworld is an open secret. Not only have actors and actresses been in touch with the underworld but most of their movies are funded by the D gang.
Back in 2001, Dawood’s right hand man Chhota Shakeel had bragged that they have made around 25 films and earned profits too.
With threats being made to some actors by the Bishnoi gang they are likely to reach out to members of the D gang for protection. Such incidents have taken place in the past and the worry is that this could happen again leading to a massive gang war.
An official told Organiser that the underworld war is all set to begin. The fight would be about supremacy. Another worrying factor is that Bollywood is in doldrums after delivering one flop after another. This would make some production houses to look to the underworld for funding. Hence the vigil has to be tight in the days to come to prevent any such scenario from taking place.
While there is likely to be an outbreak of an underworld war, the agencies are equally worried about Dawood’s pan India plans. They are planing to target high profile businessmen in the country and also scores of Hindu leaders.
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