Close aide of India’s Most Wanted Dawood Ibrahim dies in Mumbai hospital

A former aide of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and an accused in the 1993 JJ shootout case Monday died in Jaslok Hospital in south Mumbai, medical authorities said. Shakeel Ahmed Sheikh, also known as Lambu Shakeel, was suffering from a heart ailment, a hospital official said. Details of his ailment and death would be released later in an official statement from the hospital, the official added. 

Dawood Ibrahim is on the consolidated list, which was sent by India to Pakistan last year.  The UNSC list included 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed and India’s most wanted gangster Dawood Ibrahim. According to the United Nations, Dawood holds several Pakistani passports and owns a “palatial bungalow in the hilly area of Noorabad, Karachi.”

Last year, the Supreme Court had directed Union Government to seize underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s assets in Mumbai, rejecting Dawood’s family challenging the seizure.

Dawood’s sister Haseena Parkar had earlier filed a plea regarding the attachment of his properties in Mumbai. The court bench headed by Justice RK Agarwal, dismissed the plea.

Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (SAFEMA) of the Finance Ministry, in November 2017, became the first government body to sell three properties owned by Dawood Ibrahim during a public auction in Mumbai.

Underworld don Dawood Ibrahim is the mastermind behind the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. Dawood Ibrahim is the mastermind of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts.

In the aftermath of Pulwama attack and the subsequent Balakot air strike, India had communicated to Pakistan that if it was sincere in tackling terror, then it should at least hand over to India Dawood Ibrahim, Sayeed Salahudeen and other terrorists who are Indian citizens and residing in that country, government sources said. They said Pakistan has failed to take any credible action against Jaish-e-Mohammed and other terror groups even after the dastardly Pulwama attack.

If Pakistan really wants to send a message that it was serious about addressing India's concerns over terrorism, then it should hand over Dawood, Salahudeen and other terrorists who are Indians, the sources said.

Referring to actions by Pakistan such as holding certain terrorists in preventive custody, the sources said India considered them to be cosmetic. Cosmetic action will not cut any ice. India has been asking Pakistan to hand over Dawood, Salahudeen and several other terrorists who are wanted in India in connection with a series of terror attacks.