Author: Stavan Desai
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: October 30, 2003
The US may have tightened the screws
on Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar alias Sheikh Dawood Hassan earlier this month
by branding him a "global terrorist", but in Gujarat, the don's been operating
for 20 years. He was arrested in 1983 in a case of attempted murder but
managed to jump bail.
The Gujarat police could hardly
imagine that the man driving a red Honda and identifying himself as a Mumbai-based
businessman, an, whom they had arrested, would turn into a major security
threat for the state.
"In those days, he was into smuggling,"
says Joint Commissioner P.C. Thakur, the first one to arrest Dawood in
Gujarat. Dawood, a close aide of Daman-based gold and silver smuggler Laloo
Jogi, was then detained at Vadodara Central Prison for a month. Police
believe that netting Dawood will not only hit his local links but also
neutralise the security threat to the state.
At present, the don is an "absconding
accused" for Gujarat police in atleast 32 criminal cases, ranging from
bomb blasts, killings, illegal arms smuggling and extortion. He has also
been found to be involved in imparting terrorists training to Muslim youth
from the city.
"Now, it's more important for us
to unearth Dawood's mafia and other links through which he operates in
the state," says Additional Director-General (Intelligence) J Mahapatra.
He believes the threat level has reduced as Dawood no longer operates directly.
Police admit that it is largely
due to the elimination of city-based don Abdul Latif Abdul Wahab Sheikh
in early 1998 that Dawood's direct link to Gujarat's soil was checked.
"Over the years, Gujarat police
have effectively neutralised his activities in the state," says Additional
Director General (CID, Crime and Railways) Kuldeep Sharma. He is credited
with arresting Latif in New Delhi while he was attempting to flee the country.
Sharma says Dawood's activities
in Gujarat had peaked when Latif was active. For his loyalty, Dawood had
"gifted" him a sharp-shooter in 1985. "He (Sharif Khan) was used by both
Latif and Dawood for contract killings and illegal arms running," police
said.
At least two sensational killings,
one where nine persons were gunned down with an AK-47 in Odhav area in
August1992, and the second where three suspected Chhota Rajan gang members
were shot dead in Shahibaug area in July 1992by Sharif Khan and his men,
were found to have been carried out on Dawood's orders.
After Latif was killed in an encounter,
Sharif Khan, at Dawood's behest, attempted to avenge the killing by sending
six people with AK rifles and hand grenades. They too were killed by the
cops, compelling Sharif to flee the country.
Intelligence agencies believe Sharif
Khan and Rasool Khan Parti, another Latif aide, are "in Pakistan under
Dawood's protection". Parti was involved in the serial AMTS bomb blasts
and the assassination of former Minister of State for Home Haren Pandya.
"Both had planned terrorists activities,
following the post-Godhra riots. And though there is little evidence to
link them with Dawood, it is suspected that they are under the protective
umbrella of Dawood and Chhota Shakeel," an intelligence official says.
