Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh said in the Lok Sabha on Monday that India had evidence of Dawood Ibrahim’s presence in Pakistan, and would bring him back “no matter what”.
“Whether we have to pursue Pakistan or put pressure, we will not rest until we get Dawood Ibrahim back,” said Singh. The home minister said that the Indian government would do everything in its power to bring Ibrahim back.
Singh’s statement comes days after India’s Minister of State for Home Affairs Haribhai Chaudhry told parliament that India did not know of Ibrahim’s exact whereabouts.
Chaudhry had said that “the subject has not been located so far. Extradition process with regard to Dawood Ibrahim would be initiated once the subject is located”. This is in slight contradiction to the statements issued by successive Indian governments in the past.
Chaudhry’s statement of largely interpreted as implying that New Delhi did not know whether Ibrahim was in Pakistan, following which the minister stated that India was aware of Ibrahim’s presence in Pakistan, but was not sure of his precise location.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha on Monday, Singh said that despite “all documents and overwhelming proof of his [Ibrahim’s] presence”, Pakistan had failed to track him down or take any action against him.
Pakistan denies Indian charges that it shelters Dawood Ibrahim — one of India’s most wanted men — ever since the don became a fugitive for his alleged role in the serial bomb blasts that hit Mumbai in 1993 in apparent retaliation for the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992. Over 250 people were killed in the attacks.
Ibrahim stands convicted in absentia in India for the blasts, together with several Mumbai accomplices.
