Centre still clueless about Dawood’s location

MUMBAI: Well over two decades after a series of bomb blasts rocked Mumbai, leaving 257 persons dead and 713 injured, the Centre is still in the dark about the whereabouts of main accused Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar.
When the issue of Dawood’s extradition was raised in Parliament by Shiv Sena member Pratap Jadhav, Union minister of state for home Mullapally Ramachandran informed that the subject (Dawood) has not been located so far and the extradition process would be initiated once his location is known.
In a written reply to Jadhav, Ramachandran said that a Red Corner notice issued in March 1993 is in existence and the United Nations Security Council has also issued a special notice in March 2006 against the accused.
Former Mumbai police commissioner M N Singh, who had filed the chargesheet in the March 1993 serial blasts case, expressed displeasure over the Centre’s failure to mount pressure on Pakistan, where Dawood is believed to be hiding.
Singh said it was unfortunate that no serious efforts were being made for Dawood’s extradition. “For the past two decades, India has been telling Pakistan that Dawood is hiding there, while Pakistan has been denying it all along. As a result, stalemate over Dawood’s whereabouts continues. We can’t be silent spectator, we must find out options to locate him,” Singh said.
“The reply given by the Centre is a procedure to be followed for tracking criminals. We had taken the case up with the CBI for issuing a red corner notice against Dawood. Now, it is the responsibility of the Centre to inform the people on the efforts made by it for his extradition. It appears to be a forgotten incident for the centre,” he said.