Dawood Ibrahim
Encyclopedia
Dawood Ibrahim also known as Dawood Ebrahim, and Sheikh Dawood Hassan, is the head of the organized crime syndicate [[D-Company]] in Mumbai
. He is currently on the wanted list of Interpol
for organised crime and counterfeiting. He was No. 4 on the Forbes' World's Top 10 most dreaded criminals list of 2008
. He is ranked at no. 57 in Forbes list of 'The World's Most Powerful People'.
Dawood Ibrahim is accused of heading a vast and sprawling illegal empire. After the 1993 Bombay bombings, which Ibrahim allegedly organized and financed, he became India's most wanted man. According to the United States
, Ibrahim maintained close links with al-Qaida's Osama bin Laden
. As a consequence, the United States declared Dawood Ibrahim a "global terrorist" in 2003 and pursued the matter before the United Nations
in an attempt to freeze his assets around the world and crack down on his operations. The Bush administration
has since imposed several sanctions on Ibrahim and his associates. Indian and Russia
n intelligence agencies have pointed out Ibrahim's possible involvement in several other terror attacks, including the November 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Pakistan
denies any knowledge of his existence, India
n intelligence agencies, such as Research and Analysis Wing
(R&AW), believe that some of his addresses include House no 37,
30th street, DHA, Karachi and White House, Near Saudi Mosque, Clifton, Karachi
, Pakistan
, He is also owner of Crown Plaza, Shahrah-e--Faisal, Karachi. as per Interpol, and is provided protection, by Pakistani intelligence agency, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). The issue of extradition of Dawood Ibrahim is one of the major hurdles in the frosty relations between India and Pakistan
.
in the India
n state of Maharashtra
on December 27, 1955. He is of Konkani
descent.
He is said to have begun his career in Mumbai
working for the Karim Lala
gang exploiting the rapid expansion in the Bombay (now Mumbai
) textiles industry to his advantage. He soon moved his residence to Dubai
in the United Arab Emirates
where he has business interests alongside India
.
' system, which is the very commonly used unofficial system for transferring money and remittances outside the view of official agencies. Much of the organisation's operations are in India.
The United States Department of Treasury
has also designated Ibrahim as a terrorist as part of its international sanctions program — effectively forbidding U.S. financial entities from working with him and seizing assets believed to be under his control. The Department of Treasury keeps a fact sheet on Ibrahim which contains reports of his syndicate having smuggling routes from South Asia, the Middle-East and Africa shared with and used by terrorist organisation al-Qaeda
. The fact sheet also said that Ibrahim's syndicate is involved in largescale shipment of narcotics in the United Kingdom and Western Europe. He is also believed to have had contacts with al-Qaeda leader Osama bin-Laden. In the late 1990s, Ibrahim traveled in Afghanistan
under the Taliban's protection. The syndicate has consistently aimed to destabilize the Indian government through riots, terrorism and civil disobedience.
Washington added that they will request the United Nations
to list Ibrahim "in pursuance of relevant Security Council resolutions". The UN listing will require that all UN member states freeze Ibrahim's assets and impose a travel ban. Juan Zarate, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, said that they are committed to identifying and attacking financial ties between terrorism and the underworld.
Ibrahim is also suspected to have connections with terrorist organisations, and in 2002 was linked to the financing of increasing attacks in Gujarat by Lashkar-e-Toiba
. New Delhi handed over to Islamabad a list of 38 most wanted criminals, including Ibrahim.
In a major blow to Ibrahim, ten members of his gang were arrested by Mumbai Crime Branch on November 21, 2006. They were extradited from the United Arab Emirates
, from where they had been deported.
Sources reported in India Today indicate that Dawood Ibrahim provided the logistics for the November 2008 Mumbai attacks.
they had meetings with Colin Powell
and Condoleezza Rice
. A list of the Top 20 most-wanted terrorists in Pakistan was handed to the US. Ibrahim was wanted in connection with the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. Following the meetings, "He (Powell) told his Indian interlocutors that Pakistan would hand over Dawood Ibrahim to India 'with some strings attached' and also that Musharraf needed 15 to 20 days more for doing so," However, Advani says he "started facing hurdles" soon and recollecting it now "is not a very happy experience."
No Pakistani action was made the following months...
Ajmal Amir Kasab, a gunman arrested for participation in the November 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 173 (164 civilians and security personnel and 9 terrorists), has confessed to authorities according to reports that Ibrahim's organization provided arms and explosives to the Lashkar-e-Taiba
group that were used to carry out the attacks.
. Miandad told the press that his son and Ibrahim's daughter met while studying together in the UK.
Firstly came the death of Sharad Shetty
, Dawood's financier and long term confidant, an assassination carried out by Dawood's longtime rival Chotta Rajan. News media outlets reported the murder as a sign of a dramatic shift of power between the crime lords. This was the seminal event in a series of blows to his criminal empire from which Ibrahim has never fully recovered. The loss of Shetty was followed by the declaration by the United States Treasury Department declaring Ibrahim a global terrorist because of his links with Osama bin Laden
. Ibrahim then lost one of his closest aides, Shoaib Khan
in 2005,. .
2009 continued to be a difficult year both on personal and business level. He lost a Brother, Noora, earlier in the year.
films.
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
. He is currently on the wanted list of Interpol
Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
for organised crime and counterfeiting. He was No. 4 on the Forbes' World's Top 10 most dreaded criminals list of 2008
The World's 10 Most Wanted
The World's Most Wanted Fugitive is a list published by the American publishing and media company Forbes. The list contains ten fugitives that Forbes, with the help of international law enforcement agencies, deems as the world's most wanted. The list was first published in April 2008...
. He is ranked at no. 57 in Forbes list of 'The World's Most Powerful People'.
Dawood Ibrahim is accused of heading a vast and sprawling illegal empire. After the 1993 Bombay bombings, which Ibrahim allegedly organized and financed, he became India's most wanted man. According to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Ibrahim maintained close links with al-Qaida's Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
. As a consequence, the United States declared Dawood Ibrahim a "global terrorist" in 2003 and pursued the matter before the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
in an attempt to freeze his assets around the world and crack down on his operations. The Bush administration
George W. Bush administration
The presidency of George W. Bush began on January 20, 2001, when he was inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States of America. The oldest son of former president George H. W. Bush, George W...
has since imposed several sanctions on Ibrahim and his associates. Indian and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n intelligence agencies have pointed out Ibrahim's possible involvement in several other terror attacks, including the November 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
denies any knowledge of his existence, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n intelligence agencies, such as Research and Analysis Wing
Research and Analysis Wing
The Research and Analysis Wing is India's external intelligence agency. It was formed in September 1968 after the poor performance of the Intelligence Bureau in the Sino-Indian war of 1962 and the India-Pakistani war of 1965 convinced the then government of India that a specialized, independent...
(R&AW), believe that some of his addresses include House no 37,
30th street, DHA, Karachi and White House, Near Saudi Mosque, Clifton, Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, He is also owner of Crown Plaza, Shahrah-e--Faisal, Karachi. as per Interpol, and is provided protection, by Pakistani intelligence agency, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). The issue of extradition of Dawood Ibrahim is one of the major hurdles in the frosty relations between India and Pakistan
Indo-Pakistani relations
Relations between India and Pakistan have been strained by a number of historical and political issues, and are defined by the violent partition of British India in 1947, the Kashmir dispute and the numerous military conflicts fought between the two nations...
.
Background
Ibrahim Kaskar, the son of a police constable Mohsin Khan, was born in Mumkaa village in RatnagiriRatnagiri
Ratnāgiri is a port city on the Arabian Sea coast in Ratnagiri district in the southwestern part of Maharashtra, India. The district is a part of Konkan.The Sahyadri mountains border Ratnagiri to the east...
in the India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n state of Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
on December 27, 1955. He is of Konkani
Konkani people
Konkani people , form a group of people mainly found in the Konkan Coast of western India whose mother-tongue is the Konkani language....
descent.
He is said to have begun his career in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
working for the Karim Lala
Karim Lala
Karim Lala , born as Abdul Karim Sher Khan in Kunar province of Afghanistan, was popularly known as the 'don of Mumbai' in India. He is widely recognized as the founder and pioneer of the Indian mafia in the Mumbai area...
gang exploiting the rapid expansion in the Bombay (now Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
) textiles industry to his advantage. He soon moved his residence to Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
in the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
where he has business interests alongside India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
Narcotics trafficking
Dawood Ibrahim is believed to control much of the 'hawalaHawala
Hawala is an informal value transfer system based on the performance and honor of a huge network of money brokers, which are primarily located in the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and South Asia...
' system, which is the very commonly used unofficial system for transferring money and remittances outside the view of official agencies. Much of the organisation's operations are in India.
Terrorism
Ibrahim is widely believed to have masterminded the 1993 Bombay Bombings, a series of terrorist attacks carried out in the city on March 12 of the year. In 2003, the Indian and United States governments declared Ibrahim a "Global Terrorist". The then Deputy Prime Minister, L.K.Advani described it as a major development and that India stands "vindicated". Ibrahim is currently on India's "Most wanted List".The United States Department of Treasury
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
has also designated Ibrahim as a terrorist as part of its international sanctions program — effectively forbidding U.S. financial entities from working with him and seizing assets believed to be under his control. The Department of Treasury keeps a fact sheet on Ibrahim which contains reports of his syndicate having smuggling routes from South Asia, the Middle-East and Africa shared with and used by terrorist organisation al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
. The fact sheet also said that Ibrahim's syndicate is involved in largescale shipment of narcotics in the United Kingdom and Western Europe. He is also believed to have had contacts with al-Qaeda leader Osama bin-Laden. In the late 1990s, Ibrahim traveled in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
under the Taliban's protection. The syndicate has consistently aimed to destabilize the Indian government through riots, terrorism and civil disobedience.
Washington added that they will request the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
to list Ibrahim "in pursuance of relevant Security Council resolutions". The UN listing will require that all UN member states freeze Ibrahim's assets and impose a travel ban. Juan Zarate, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, said that they are committed to identifying and attacking financial ties between terrorism and the underworld.
Ibrahim is also suspected to have connections with terrorist organisations, and in 2002 was linked to the financing of increasing attacks in Gujarat by Lashkar-e-Toiba
Lashkar-e-Toiba
Lashkar-e-Taiba – also transliterated as Lashkar-i-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Lashkar-i-Taiba, Lashkar Taiba or LeT – is one of the largest and most active militant Islamist terrorist organizations in South Asia, operating mainly from Pakistan.It was founded by Hafiz Muhammad...
. New Delhi handed over to Islamabad a list of 38 most wanted criminals, including Ibrahim.
In a major blow to Ibrahim, ten members of his gang were arrested by Mumbai Crime Branch on November 21, 2006. They were extradited from the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
, from where they had been deported.
Sources reported in India Today indicate that Dawood Ibrahim provided the logistics for the November 2008 Mumbai attacks.
United States Deportation Resistance
In January 2002, a month after the Parliament attack, Indian officials visited the US, wherethey had meetings with Colin Powell
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...
and Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
. A list of the Top 20 most-wanted terrorists in Pakistan was handed to the US. Ibrahim was wanted in connection with the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. Following the meetings, "He (Powell) told his Indian interlocutors that Pakistan would hand over Dawood Ibrahim to India 'with some strings attached' and also that Musharraf needed 15 to 20 days more for doing so," However, Advani says he "started facing hurdles" soon and recollecting it now "is not a very happy experience."
No Pakistani action was made the following months...
Ajmal Amir Kasab, a gunman arrested for participation in the November 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 173 (164 civilians and security personnel and 9 terrorists), has confessed to authorities according to reports that Ibrahim's organization provided arms and explosives to the Lashkar-e-Taiba
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Lashkar-e-Taiba – also transliterated as Lashkar-i-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Lashkar-i-Taiba, Lashkar Taiba or LeT – is one of the largest and most active militant Islamist terrorist organizations in South Asia, operating mainly from Pakistan.It was founded by Hafiz Muhammad...
group that were used to carry out the attacks.
His daughter
Dawood Ibrahim's daughter Mahrukh Ibrahim married Junaid Miandad the son of a former Pakistan National Cricket Team captain, Javed MiandadJaved Miandad
Mohammad Javed Miandad Khan , popularly known as Javed Miandad , is a former Pakistani cricketer who played between 1975 and 1996. He is Pakistan's leading run scorer in Test cricket. He has served as a captain of the Pakistan national cricket team...
. Miandad told the press that his son and Ibrahim's daughter met while studying together in the UK.
Decline and ill-health
The past few years have seen a dramatic decline in Dawood's fortunes from the heady heights of the life depicted in "Portrait of a Don" - the ground breaking exposé by Ghulam Hasnain in 2001.Firstly came the death of Sharad Shetty
Sharad Shetty
Sharad Shetty was an Indian mobster based in Dubai. He was one of Dawood Ibrahim’s top aides and was known to control most of the cricket betting racket in the Indian sub-continent. He belonged to the powerful Bunt community of South Canara district of Karnataka. Sharad Shetty was shot dead at The...
, Dawood's financier and long term confidant, an assassination carried out by Dawood's longtime rival Chotta Rajan. News media outlets reported the murder as a sign of a dramatic shift of power between the crime lords. This was the seminal event in a series of blows to his criminal empire from which Ibrahim has never fully recovered. The loss of Shetty was followed by the declaration by the United States Treasury Department declaring Ibrahim a global terrorist because of his links with Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
. Ibrahim then lost one of his closest aides, Shoaib Khan
Shoaib Khan
Shoaib Khan is a left-handed Pakistani batsman that plays for Quetta Bears and played four international Twenty20 matches for Pakistan in the Al-Barkah Twenty20 Tournament. He averages 16.25 with the bat with the strike rate of 81 in International Twenty20.-References:...
in 2005,. .
2009 continued to be a difficult year both on personal and business level. He lost a Brother, Noora, earlier in the year.
Depiction in popular media
Dawood Ibrahim's life has been subject of BollywoodBollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
films.
- CompanyCompany (film)Company is a 2002 Indian film directed by Ram Gopal Varma and written by Jaideep Sahni, starring Ajay Devgan, Mohanlal, Manisha Koirala, Vivek Oberoi,and Antara Mali. It is a fictional exposé of the Mumbai underworld, loosely based on the Indian mafia organization D-Company, known to be run by...
- based on rift between Ibrahim and Chota Rajan. - RiskRisk (film)Risk is a 2007 Bollywood movie directed by Vishram Sawant. It stars Randeep Hooda, Vinod Khanna, Tanushree Dutta, Zakir Hussain, Yashpal Sharma and Anant Jog in the lead roles. The movie is based on the Mumbai underworld...
- based on Ibrahim's life. - DD (film)D is an Indian crime drama and thriller film, directed by Vishram Sawant, written by Manish Gupta, and produced by Ram Gopal Varma and Ronnie Screwvala. It was released in India on June 3, 2005....
- based on Ibrahim's rise and growth. - Black Friday - based on the 1993 Mumbai bombings1993 Mumbai bombingsThe 1993 Bombay bombings were a series of 13 bomb explosions that took place in Bombay , Maharashtra, India on Friday, 12 March 1993. The coordinated attacks were the most destructive bomb explosions in Indian history...
. - Shootout at LokhandwalaShootout at LokhandwalaShootout at Lokhandwala is a 2007 Hindi feature film directed by Apoorva Lakhia. It is based upon the 1991 Lokhandwala Complex shootout, a real-life gun battle between gangsters and Mumbai Police....
- based on five gangsters active in 1991 - Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai - Dawood Ibrahim and Haji MastanHaji MastanHaji Mastan Mirza, popularly known as Haji Mastan or Bawa, was a Bombay gangster and smuggler in the 1960s and 1970s. Mastan became the first celebrity gangster of the city, expanding his clout in the film industry. As Mastan's influence in Bollywood grew, he began to produce films...
- Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai 2Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai 2Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai 2 is an upcoming Bollywood film and a sequel to Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai. The film will star Akshay Kumar in the lead role, who has three different looks in the film, opposite Kareena Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor and Ileana D'Cruz...
- Dawood Ibrahim and Chota Rajan