Dawood Ibrahim being sheltered by Pakistan, says Home Secretary

Fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, key accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, is in Pakistan and that country is creating hurdles in getting him back to India to face the law, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said on Wednesday.

Mehrishi said the government is taking all required action so that Ibrahim could be brought back to India.

“Dawood Ibrahim is in Pakistan. That country has given him shelter. That country is also putting hurdles in bringing him back to India to face the law,” he told PTI.

Mehrishi will demit office on August 31.

The home secretary said the “attitude” of Pakistan was not in conformity with international law and it is working against India in Ibrahim’s case.

“Whatever action is required, we are taking. We will get him. The process is on. But the attitude of the Pakistan government is not in conformity with the international law.  Pakistan is working against India. The legal process is on. We will get him at an opportune time,” he said.

Ibrahim is the main accused in the 1993 serial bomb blasts case in Mumbai in which around 260 people were killed, and more than 700 were injured.

He fled India post the bombings and is hiding in Pakistan at present.

In April, Home Minister Rajnath Singh had stated there was no doubt that Ibrahim was still in Pakistan. During the last 10 years, India has sent several dossiers to Pakistan in this regard, naming Ibrahim as the accused in the Mumbai blasts case.

In 2011, P Chidambaram, the then home minister in the UPA government, had also said that Ibrahim was based in Karachi.  He had said that India would continue to push its case to bring to justice the people who had planned terror attacks in the country.

India has for long been advocating an extradition treaty between SAARC countries in order to ensure quick action against those involved in terrorist activities.

Both India and Pakistan are members of SAARC.