The Intelligence Bureau has zeroed in on Dawood Ibrahim’s location in Jeddah. It has updated the dossier on the world’s second-most-wanted terrorist with the latest intelligence, including details of his bases in Islamic countries beyond Pakistan, especially in Jeddah and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.
According to IB officers, the dossier has been handed over to America’s Central Intelligence Agency through the National Investigation Agency. The IB officers say Jeddah has always been Dawood’s second home for many reasons. “We have prepared a detailed updated dossier on him after the Osama bin Laden encounter,” said an IB source. “Ibrahim knows that due to international pressure Pakistan would never want him to stay put in their territory. Further, Saudi Arabia would be the next logical choice as it is the holiest place in Islam and hence there is no question of surgical strikes by the US or India,” said a well-placed source.
The source added that Ibrahim in the past too has fled Karachi for Jeddah as India has no extradition treaty with Saudi Arabia. “Whenever there has been a terror strike in India, Ibrahim, along with his family members, leaves for Jeddah,” the source said, adding, “This time, too, he has done the same thing. His most trusted lieutenant, Chhota Shakeel, too, has stationed himself in Jeddah as his daughter is married to a Bangladeshi businessman settled there.”
According to other IB officers, the members of the Ibrahim gang go to Jeddah very often on the pretext of pilgrimage. Later, it is found that they hold important meetings, hatch conspiracies and decide the gang’s course of action there.
“Last year Ibrahim’s younger brother, Iqbal Kaskar, who is in Mumbai, had asked for permission to travel to Jeddah for a pilgrimage. However, later it was discovered that Ibrahim and Shakeel were going to be there at the same time and they had planned a family reunion,” said an IB officer. Kaskar was denied permission to travel to Jeddah by the court then.
When contacted, joint commissioner of police (crime) Himanshu Roy told this newspaper that all necessary steps are being taken through proper diplomatic channels. “The Mumbai police has been seeking Dawood’s deportation for many years and has given all evidence against him to the Centre. We will follow up through diplomatic channels to seek his custody,” said Mr Roy.