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archive: IB suspects Dawood-Osama tie-up for terror campaign

IB suspects Dawood-Osama tie-up for terror campaign

S Hussain in Bombay
Rediff on Net
August 21, 1999


    Title: IB suspects Dawood-Osama tie-up for terror campaign
    Author: S Hussain in Bombay 
    Publication: Rediff on Net
    Date: August 21, 1999 
    
    Islamic terrorism may acquire a new, more dangerous dimension on the
    Indian subcontinent with two most wanted fugitives -- Osama bin Laden
    and Dawood Ibrahim -- reportedly joining hands. 
    
    According to a senior officer in the Bombay office of the Intelligence
    Bureau, gangster Dawood and his man Friday Chhota Shakeel, who are
    currently living in Karachi under the protection of Pakistan's
    Inter-Services Intelligence, made two quick trips to Kabul last week. 
    
    Exactly what transpired on the trips is not known, though the IB has
    received indications that the first was to place orders for firearms
    and the second, to the mountains on Kabul's outskirts, to meet bin
    Laden, who is touted as Islam's chief crusader (amirul mujahideen). 
    
    But what has baffled the IB is that while the first meeting lasted a
    few hours, the second continued for days, with India's most wanted
    gangsters becoming bin Laden's guests in his hideaway in a palatial
    cellar in the mountains near Kabul. 
    
    The IB believes Dawood and bin Laden have joined hands to execute
    subversive activities in Indian cities, most probably Delhi and
    Bombay. 
    
    bin Laden's mercenaries are determined to cause havoc in the country
    at election time, but they lack sufficient local help in terms of
    supply of arms, manpower and 'booking' (bribing) government officials. 
    
    IB reports say that when Dawood and Shakeel made their first trip to
    Kabul and placed a huge order for sophisticated firearms, bin Laden's
    men got wind of it and tipped off their chief. The Arab
    millionaire-terrorist then sent a message to Dawood and sought a
    meeting for 'the sake of Islam'. 
    
    The gangster and his lieutenant met bin Laden the same week, the IB
    says.
    
    Neither the IB nor the Research and Analysis Wing has details of the
    trio's game plan, but they have taken serious note of the meeting. 
    
    Rakesh Maria, additional commissioner of police (north-west region),
    Bombay, confirmed that he too had received reports of the deal between
    the two fugitives. "We have heard that Dawood and Shakeel made two
    quick trips to Kabul. The details are not known. But the first trip
    was about some weapons to be sent to their men in Bombay and the
    second was for a meeting with a top Islamic leader, most probably
    Osama bin Laden," he said. Maria is said to have one of the best
    criminal informer networks in the country. 
    
    According to Maria, since the maximum number of gangsters killed in
    encounters by the Bombay police belong to the Shakeel gang -- 40 out
    of 65 killed this year -- and their weapons have been seized, the gang
    is reeling under a severe arms crunch, and hence the trip to
    Afghanistan. 
    
    The IB has sounded an alert in the border areas, especially the Rann
    of Kutch, which is the best route for the Dawood gang's arms
    traffickers. The carriers coming from Karachi cross the Kutch border
    into Gujarat and make their way to Ahmedabad, Dawood's biggest base in
    India after Bombay, from where they are distributed throughout the
    country.
    



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