Dawood Ibrahim and his deputy and most trusted aide Chhota Shakeel do not wish to return to India anymore. According to Shakeel, the Indian government turned down their proposal to return after the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, and now they are reluctant to come back.
“When we wanted to come back after 1993, you people, your government didn’t allow. Bhai had himself spoken that time to Ram Jethmalani, that too in London… baat ho gayi thi… But your ministry… that Advani played the game,” Shakeel told TOI in an exclusive interview over phone from Karachi on Friday. Shakeel opened up on a number of issues, including the bid he recently masterminded on rival Chhota Rajan which was exclusively reported by TOI on Wednesday, IPL match-fixing and his desire to continue doing “business” in India.
He, however, got agitated when asked about information given by intelligence sources that Dawood was to be bumped off on September 16 last year when he was on his way to attend Shakeel’s daughter Zoya’s wedding in Karachi. Reliable accounts suggest that those interested in killing Dawood had come close to breaching the security cordon that the fugitive don has erected around himself.
This reporter had barely broached the issue that Shakeel snapped, “Who tells you all this? I have no idea. Ask what I will answer, not what I won’t. These are fancies which will never turn true. (Sawal woh karo jiska jawab mai doon aapko, woh na karo jiska jawab nahin doon. Aaj tak jitni bhi aisi information aayi hai… agencies bhi jaanti hai, khayaali pulao hai, sapne dekhte hain, inka sapna kabhi poora nahi hoga).”
Shakeel accused Indian agencies of discriminating between gangs, and asked why they, or the government, had never talked about bringing back Chhota Rajan. “When agencies can hear me plotting against him (Rajan) and know where he is, why don’t they get him picked up? Has he not killed people? Is he not a criminal?” he asked.
He mocked Indian authorities for periodic declarations of their desire to bring Dawood and his aides back and make them face the law. “Every time a new government comes, they make the first statement about us. Usko leke aayenge… ghus ke laayenge… Kya halwa hai? Bakri ka bachcha samajh ke rakha hai kya? Lana hai toh usko (Rajan) lao na,” he said.
Read: Pakistan’s Compliance of UN Sanction on Dawood Ibrahim, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Hafiz Saeed to be Monitored – NDTV
Shakeel confirmed that he, with help from precise information from a defector in the Rajan gang, had reached Newcastle in Australia to eliminate his rival. “He ran away like a mouse,” Shakeel said. He claimed that not one but three key members of Rajan’s group had crossed over to his side because of their confidence that they would be taken care of. “I look after even the family of Rajan’s aides who had been killed by members of D-Company,” Shakeel said.
He added, “Haven’t killed anyone in Mumbai in the past 5-6 years. I don’t want to kill innocents. He (Rajan) brings shooters from UP and gets people killed in our name. I want to continue my business. I invest money and take it back.”
Shakeel got agitated when asked about Rajan’s ‘Hindu don’ image. “This is media’s job. Take him in the army, send him on the border if he is a patriot. (Patriot hai to army me le lo na… border pe bhejo na! Mulq ke liye kaam karega. Hindu don ka concept aap logo ka… media ka hai. He has killed all Hindus for money,” he said. (Raj Shekhar,TNN)
