Refuting all reports of “Dawood Ibrahim’s death", his close aide Chhota Shakeel, in an exclusive conversation with CNN-News18, confirmed that the gangster was “alive and healthy".
“Dawood is alive and healthy. Even I was shocked to see this fake news. I met him multiple times yesterday," he said.
THE ‘VIRAL’ FAKE NEWS
Reports on various social media platforms alleged that the gangster was rushed to hospital after being poisoned. Some users even posted screenshots of what appeared to be the account of Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar, which mentioned that Dawood had died. But the message and account turned out to be fake.
The viral message read, “The Messiah of humanity, dear to every Pakistani heart, our beloved His Excellency Dawood Ibrahim passed away due to poisoned by unknown. He breathed his last in a hospital in Karachi. May Allah grant him the highest position in Jannat. Inna Lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un."
SON OF A POLICE CONSTABLE TO INDIA’s MOST WANTED
Born to a police constable in Ratnagiri, Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar has become a drug mafia in the UK and Western Europe, with a massive empire in Dubai and Karachi.
According to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), he uses 13 aliases to hide his identity. In the 1980s and early 1990s, he became the kingpin of Mumbai’s underworld, covering prostitution, gambling and drugs. Mumbai’s economic collapse in the 1980s made way for the newly formed mafias. Ibrahim flew to Dubai in 1986 to avoid criminal prosecution. Later, these came to be known as the D-Company with nexus across India, Pakistan and Nepal.
Soon, Chhota Rajan started creating problem for his boss. Around this time, Shakeel became Dawood’s trusted aide. D-Company allegedly runs a parallel economy in Pakistan. Shakeel runs an extortion racket through his henchmen. He left India in 1995-96 and has been in Pakistan since then, according to a statement by Salim Qureshi alias Salim Fruit, who was recently questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in probe against Dawood Ibrahim and his gang.
In January 2023, News18 had reported that during an interrogation with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in September 2022, Alishah Ibrahim Parkar, son of Dawood’s late sister Haseena Parkar, told the anti-terror probe agency that the wanted criminal was staying in the defense area of Pakistan’s Karachi near Abdulla Gazi Baba Dargah. Alishah also revealed that Dawood got married for the second time and his second wife is of Pathan origin. He was also still married to his first wife Maizabin.
FORAY INTO ‘LEGAL BUSINESSES’, ASSET VALUE AT Rs 1 LAKH CRORE
Earlier this year, News18 had reported how the D-Company is investing in various properties in several countries, including Britain, Spain, Morocco, Turkey and Australia. During a phone call, Shakeel told News18 that the D-Company predominantly moved into ‘legal businesses’ since the 1980s.
Over the past three decades, the businesses of D-Company have grown and their asset value is more than Rs 1 lakh crore in various currencies, according to sources. Shakeel further said the D-Company was not interested in any new businesses as the old ones were “running well".
WHEN NEWS18 CALLED DAWOOD
In 2017, CNN-News18 had sought to end the mystery surrounding Dawood’s whereabouts by calling him in Karachi.
As the gangster answered the call, this correspondent identified himself, pushing Dawood into damage control mode. He then identified himself as Javed Chotani. “No, this is Chotani speaking," he said, before handing over the phone to the real Javed Chotani.
In 2016, News18 had also done a sting operation showing Ibrahim’s house in Clifton area of Karachi, and airing audio tapes in which serving police officers spoke about the terror don’s movements in the city.
Recently, BJP MLA from Mumbai Ashish Shelar raised the issue of the alleged links between the Mahadev app owners and Ibrahim.
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