Dawood location not known, govt tells LS
Row erupts after minister’s reply, ■ MHA in U- turn says fugitive in Pak
The government on Tuesday said India’s “most wanted” terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, accused of masterminding the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts that killed 300 people, has “not been located so far”. The statement by minister of state for home Haribhai Chaudhury, in reply to a written question in Parliament, caused huge embarrassment to the government, which immediately reversed its stand and declared that Dawood was in Pakistan. India’s stated line is that Dawood is hiding in Pakistan and enjoying “state patronage”.
The minister’s statement drew a sharp reaction, with the Congress accusing the government of “weakening” the nation’s fight against terror by say- ing Dawood was untraceable. Clarifying the issue outside Parliament, MoS home Kiren Rijiju said: “The government stand has always been that Dawood is in Pakistan.”
His colleague Haribhai Chaudhury, who delivered the written reply in the Lok Sabha on behalf of the home ministry, asked senior ministry officials to explain the goof- up. A redfaced home ministry, that is claiming the “error” may be the result of a bureaucratic goof- up, may come back to the Lok Sabha Wednesday with a revised reply. However, the home ministry, during UPA rule in 2013, is learnt to have given a similar
● MHA official gets blamed for LS written reply, inquiry ordered
Continued from Page 1 reply. Officials even claimed the MHA prepares the reply in consultation with the external affairs ministry.
On Tuesday, replying to a question by a BJP MP on the gangster’s extradition, MoS home Haribhai Chaudhury said in a written reply that Dawood was an accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, and that a red corner notice had been issued against him. “The United Nations Security Council has also issued a special notice against him. The subject has not been located so far. Extradition process with regard to Dawood Ibrahim would be initiated once the subject is located,” he said.
India has always maintained that the 59- year- old is in Karachi, under the Pakistan government’s protection, and several government dossiers handed over to Islamabad have carried details of Dawood’s whereabouts and how he is under “state protection” and funding anti- India activities from Pakistani soil.
As the matter snowballed into a major controversy, MoS home Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary said he replied on the basis of the draft prepared by home ministry officials. The MHA’s internal security 2 divison deals with all the extradition requests sent by India to various countries. Union home secretary L. C. Goyal, who has been asked by Mr Chaudhary to examine how the replay was drafted, has put officials on the job to determine if responsibility lay with the joint secretary who cleared the reply and on what basis. Coming to the MHA’s defence, former home secretary and BJP MP R. K. Singh said: “The ISI keeps shifting him ( Dawood Ibrahim), if the home ministry has replied, it must be right.”
However, former IB director Rajendra Kumar said that Dawood is currently in Pakistan and was moving from one place to another under the ISI’s protection.
Only six months back, home minister Rajnath Singh had said in Lucknow that Dawood was India’s most wanted terrorist.