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Pak problem: Bin Laden next door, Dawood under its nose

Pak problem: Bin Laden next door, Dawood under its nose

Author: Ghulam Husnain, Newsline Magazine
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: September 14, 2001

With Mumbai's blood on his hands, Dawood fled to Karachi where 'Islamabad helped him re-start crime in return for spying'

It was the normal afternoon traffic rush on Malir Road. As a prison van slowed down before Malir Bridge, several armed men who were lying in wait showered it with a hail of Kalashnikov bullets. The shooting was so intense that none of the 10 policemen who were escorting Karachi's top gambling den operator Shoaib Khan aka Shoiab Rummywalla back to prison got a chance to even fire back. The attack left four policemen dead, while Shoaib, two pedestrians and four other policemen received multiple bullet wounds.

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 held responsible for his disappearance and possible murder.

Karachi's two rival underworld gangs, both working for Dawood Ibrahim, are now settling their scores on the city's streets. Dawood, his right hand Chhota Shakeel and Jamal (Tiger) Memon, are on India's most wanted list. After the 1993 Mumbai blasts, they have made Karachi their new home and base of operations. Living under fake names and IDs and given protection by government agencies, they have built up its underworld empire in Karachi by employing local talents like Shoaib and Bholoo.

So far, Karachi was infamous for ethnic anti-sectarian killings. 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.

''To win the loyalty of a person is the most difficult task in the world,'' Dawood Ibrahim, 46, would tell his brother gangsters. People who have worked for the Mumbai underworld known as the 'Gold Man', maintain he never abandons his men. But Dawood does not brook fools either or those who disobey him. 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 yards, boasting a pool, tennis courts, a 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 Parek Phillipe wrist watch worth half a million rupees and showers money on starlets and prostitutes.

He bought Lahore model Saba a house and a car. Nor does he shirk his obligations. Mandakini of Ram Tera Ganga Maili fame, a former Bollywood actress with whom he had a child, is reportedly still being supported by him.

Dawood wakes up in the afternoon. After a swim and shower, he has breakfast and briefs his employees on their assignments. 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. ''He prefers young girls. And 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 then collectively offer prayers. This has been his routine for years. After the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts, Dawood fled to Pakistan, managing to smuggle out his family - comprising his wife, four daughters and a son - and close associates and their families. (A 12-year-old daughter subsequently died of malaria and is buried in Pakistan). Today, they are all Pakistani passport holders.

In Pakistan, Dawood has managed to establish another huge empire, comprising both legitimate and illegitimate businesses. In fact, the last few years have seen him emerge as the don of Karachi. His net worth has been estimated at close to 90 billion rupees.

Dawood and his men have made heavy investments in prime properties in Karachi and Islamabad, and are major players on the Karachi bourse and in the parallel credit system business called hundi. Dawood is also said to have rescued Pakistan's Central Bank from a crisis 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 well known - a senior Pakistan cricket official met Dawood to get the names of those Pakistani cricketers involved in betting.

Some Pakistani cricket players admit that at one time or another, they have sought Dawood's help. Javed Miandad is allegedly very close to Dawood Ibrahim, and his recent stint in cricket, despite opposition from players, was reportedly at Dawood's behest.

Dawood's sphere of influence has also encompassed businessmen who increasingly approach him to settle disputes or for bailouts. Some former MQM militants are apparently also working for Dawood. However, his growing influence has irked Karachi's powerful ethnic group, the Mohajirs, who feel he is trespassing.

The don and his boys at home in Karachi Just a street behind Karachi's famous Abdullah Shah Ghazi shrine in Clifton is a palatial yellow brick mansion guarded around the clock by dozens of men armed with automatic weapons. The street which leads to the house is closed to public traffic. The occupant of this house: Dawood Ibrahim.

Also in Karachi is Chhota Shakeel - whom Dawood affectionately calls baccha (child). He is wanted in India for 30 criminal cases. Shuttling between Pakistan, Nepal, Malaysia and Australia, Shakeel (50) lives in a palatial house in Karachi's Defence Housing Authority, guarded by men in civvies.

Jamal Memon, commonly known in the Mumbai underworld as Tiger Memon, owns among other things a multi-storeyed building topped with a glittering glass crown known as Kashf Crown on the main Sharah-e-Faisal Boulevard. When an NGO, Shehri, protested the illegal construction, which apparently violates all building bye-laws, they were asked to withdraw the case by a government undercover agent.

''The ISI told us it's a Dawood Ibrahim building,'' said a Shehri activist. ''They said, this is a man who has done a lot for Pakistan, so we should not raise our voice against the building.'' After the Mumbai blasts, Dawood's men admitted that Jamal Memon had gone ahead without consulting either Dawood or other gang members. After a meeting with a group of mullahs, Jamal Memon was apparently so enraged when he heard of Hindu atrocities against Muslims in the wake of the Babri mosque incident that he vowed to teach Hindus a lesson they would never forget. Memon planted the explosives in 15 different locations. ''Bagair soche samjhe pathake phar diye,'' said a Dawood man. ''Sara blueprint kharab kar diya, warna pata bhi nahin chalta''.

''Earlier, whether it was a case of financial dispute or the construction or regularisation of an illegal building, people came to us. Now all of them are going to Dawood,'' remarked a former lender of Altaf Hussain's MQM.

Not only have Pakistani authorities turned a blind eye to the gang's activities, but many in the corridors of power have partaken of his hospitality. Dawood often throws lavish mujras for Pakistani politicians and bureaucrats. A recent guest was a former caretaker Prime Minister.

He is also said to have the protection of assorted intelligence agencies. Dawood and his men move around Karachi guarded by escorts of armed men. A number of government undercover agents, who came into contact with Dawood because of their official duties, are now 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 - keeping them in 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 airports to scan arriving passengers and identify RAW agents.

Yet, there is nostalgia for the home left behind. Dawood is set 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 his associates.
 


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