Bullet-proof cars exposed Dawood Ibrahim

India’s most wanted fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim — whose presence in Pakistan was virtually confirmed by the UN on Tuesday, thus endorsing India’s stand — allegedly uses a fleet of imported bullet-proof vehicles there to thwart any armed ambush by rivals. The alleged purchase in the UAE of the costly upgraded vehicles, which can reportedly block bullets fired from small arms and automatics, in late 2014 by one of his aides, who then shipped them to Pakistan, had been tracked by India’s central intelligence agencies. “The transactions related to the shipment of the bullet-proof vehicles had given fresh corroboration of Dawood’s presence in Pakistan,” said a home ministry source.

A key Dawood aide — known only by his codename of Tariq, and who has been under the scanner of the Mumbai police and intelligence agencies — had purchased the fleet of the four-wheel drive Toyota Landcruisers in Dubai, said the source. Tariq allegedly handled Dawood’s assets in the UAE and was also in touch with the fugitive don’s key lieutenants, including his brother Anees and Chhota Shakeel, in his syndicate, which is dubbed as the ‘D Company’.

“Indian intelligence agencies, including IB and R&AW, knew of Tariq, who was then stationed in Dubai and could be an Indian, as a key Dawood aide and he was under watch,” the source said. He said, “The interception of Tariq’s phone conversations later revealed that he had purchased a fleet of bullet-proof vehicles of 2009-10 make from Dubai and then shipped them to Pakistan for Dawood.”

Further, an interception of Dawood’s purported voice while conversing with an aide in late 2014, at a time he was suspected of being in Karachi, confirmed suspicions that Dawood was allegedly being harboured in Pakistan.

Dawood has an Interpol Red Corner Notice (RCN) pending against him for allegedly being a key conspirator of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, though Pakistan has consistently denied his presence there.

“In the light of the UN’s confirmation of six of Dawood’s addresses in Pakistan, the CBI may soon request Interpol to contact Pakistani authorities and deport Dawood Ibrahim to India,” said the source. A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) source, when contacted by The Asian Age, said, “We are examining all the options, including sending a fresh reminder to Interpol to tell Pakistan to execute the pending RCN against Dawood.”