Dongri to Dubai (47 page)

It was widely speculated that Dawood was shifted to Waziristan near the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan.

However, the Intelligence Bureau later gathered that before Musharraf visited India in 2001 for the Agra Summit, the ISI secretly sent Dawood away to Malaysia through Singapore with the help of one Rakesh Tulshiyan and Shahid Sohail. He stayed in Malaysia as a guest of billionaire Mohammad Tahir’s family and returned to Karachi later. Dawood is believed to have extensive mining interests in Malaysia, from where he and his group indulge in the smuggling of silver into India via Nepal.

Many Caribbean and South Pacific countries offer fugitives from justice what is called ‘economic citizenship’ to enable them to evade arrest and deportation to countries where they are wanted for crimes. This citizenship is sold in return for a minimum deposit in foreign currency kept safely in local banks.

Pakistan does not have any laws providing for such ‘economic citizenship’, but its government, on the ISI’s advice, informally awarded economic citizenship to Dawood, who was issued a Pakistani passport under a different name. Similarly, his brothers, including Anees Ibrahim and his aides, including Chhota Shakeel, were given Pakistani passports under pseudonyms.

It is believed that in the nineties, Dawood had offered Pakistan financial aid in the clandestine procurement of nuclear and missile technology and components and that this factor too probably influenced Islamabad’s decision to grant him economic citizenship.

All of this had helped Dawood in developing thick contacts with the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) and Al Qaeda elements such as Ramzi Binalshibh (a top LeT operative who was later arrested by the Pakistani authorities and handed over to the US), who had been given sanctuary in Karachi by the LeT.

Over the years, somehow Dawood and Musharraf had become indispensable to each other. In fact, Dawood had reportedly hired several retired Musharraf loyalist officers of the Pakistani intelligence community as his security officers.

And according to an IB dossier, Dawood Ibrahim also played an active role in organising the referendum campaign of Musharraf in Karachi by bringing in voters to the polling booths in trucks to vote for Musharraf.

But even as Musharraf was on his denial spree, the Pakistani press went ahead and exposed him. Then there were two simultaneous developments, which not only nailed the fragile lies of Musharraf but also made the world a smaller place for Dawood.

Newsline
, a prestigious Pakistani monthly, in its September 2001 issue, carried a detailed article on the presence of Dawood and his men in Karachi and their activities here. The Pakistani media reported that the journalist who wrote this article, Ghulam Hasnain, was detained and harassed by the Pakistani authorities.

The article stated as follows: ‘Dawood Ibrahim and his team, Mumbai’s notorious underworld clan, including his right-hand man Chota Shakeel and Jamal Memon [Tiger Memon], are on India’s most wanted list for a series of bomb blasts in Mumbai and other criminal activities. After the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts, the gang have made Karachi their new home and operating base. Living under fake names and IDs (identities), and given protection by government agencies, they have built up their underworld operations in Karachi employing local talent like Shoaib and Bholoo.

‘In Pakistan, Dawood managed to establish another huge empire, comprising both legitimate and illegitimate businesses. In fact, the last few years have witnessed Dawood emerge as the don of Karachi. Dawood and his men have made heavy investments in prime properties in Karachi and Islamabad and are major players in the Karachi bourse and in the parallel credit system business—
hundi
. Dawood is also said to have rescued Pakistan’s Central Bank, which was in crisis at one point, by providing a huge dollar loan. His businesses include gold and drug smuggling. The gang is also allegedly heavily involved in (cricket) match-fixing.

‘Not only have the Pakistani authorities turned a blind eye to the gang’s activities within Pakistan, but many in the corridors of power have partaken of Dawood’s hospitality… He is said to have the protection of assorted intelligence agencies. In fact, Dawood and his men move around the city guarded by heavy escorts of armed men in civies believed to be personnel of a top Pakistani security agency. A number of government undercover agents, who came into contact with Dawood because of their official duties, are now, in fact, working for him. Nearly all the men, who surround him for security reasons, are either retired or serving officers, claims an MQM (Muttahida Qaumi Movement) activist.

‘According to informed sources, Dawood is Pakistan’s number one espionage operative. His men in Mumbai help him get whatever information he needs for Pakistan. Rumour has it that sometimes his men in Karachi accompany Pakistani intelligence agents to the airports to scan arriving passengers and identify RAW (Indian external intelligence) agents.’

Ghulam Hasnain was so harassed and tormented by the government that he had to flee Pakistan and take refuge in the US.

The fallout of the 9/11 attacks was that the US had begun to realise the proportions of the menace that is dirty money as it floats around the world, ploughed for terror operations and the despicable aspect of the global brotherhood of Muslim terrorists. They realised that they would have to cut both the jugular vein of slush funds, money for multifarious activities, and the umbilical cord of the Muslim terrorists.

Shortly after 9/11, US President George Bush signed Executive Order (EO) No.13224 on 23 September 2001, declaring a national emergency to deal with terrorist threats to the US. He said in his EO: ‘I also find that because of the pervasiveness and expansiveness of the financial foundation of foreign terrorists, financial sanctions may be appropriate for those foreign persons that support or otherwise associate with these foreign terrorists. I also find that a need exists for further consultation and cooperation with, and sharing of information by, United States and foreign financial institutions as an additional tool to enable the United States to combat the financing of terrorism.’

The annual report on the Patterns of Global Terrorism during 2001 submitted to the US Congress in May 2002, by General Colin Powell, US Secretary of State, described the significance of this EO as: ‘EO 13224 enables the US Government to block designees’ assets in any financial institution in the US or held by any US person. It also expands US government’s authority to permit the designation of individuals and organisations that provide support or financial or other services to or associate with, designated terrorists. EO 13224 designations allowed the US government, as well as coalition partners acting in concert, to block tens of millions of dollars intended to bankroll the murderous activities of Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.’

Unlike the Indian government, the US government moved swiftly and under this EO, has so far designated 322 individuals of different nationalities and organisations as terrorists and terrorist supporters, and frozen over $136.8 million in terrorist assets by acting in concert with other member-nations of the UN. Apart from terrorist organisations such as the Al Qaeda, the Jemaah Islamiya, the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM), the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT), the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), etc., which have been so designated under this EO, a number of individual terrorists wanted for acts of terrorism in different countries have also been so designated. The most important among them are Ayman Al-Zawahiri and other leaders of the Al Qaeda.

While the US government has designated the HUM, the LeT, and the JeM as Foreign Terrorist Organisations, none of their leaders has so far been designated as global terrorists. The only individuals living openly in Pakistan and brought under the purview of this EO till 15 October 2003, were Sultan Bashir-ud-din Mahmood, Abdul Majeed, and Mahammed Tufail, who were suspected of trying to help bin Laden in the clandestine acquisition of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). They were so designated on 20 December 2001, and their bank accounts, wherever found, were ordered to be frozen.

A press release of the US Department along with the Presidents’ EO (available on the website) said: h‘Dawood Ibrahim, an Indian crime lord, has found common cause with Al Qaeda, sharing his smuggling routes with the terror syndicate and funding attacks by Islamic extremists aimed at destabilising the Indian government. He is wanted in India for the 1993 Bombay Stock Exchange bombings and is known to have financed the activities of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (Army of the Righteous), a group designated by the United States in October 2001 and banned by the Pakistani Government—who also froze their assets—in January 2002.’

A fact sheet attached to the press release said: ‘Ibrahim’s syndicate is involved in large-scale shipments of narcotics in the UK and Western Europe. The syndicate’s smuggling routes from South Asia, the Middle East and Africa are shared with Osama bin Laden and his terrorist network. Successful routes established over recent years by Ibrahim’s syndicate have been subsequently utilised by bin Laden. A financial arrangement was reportedly brokered to facilitate the latter’s usage of these routes. In the late 1990s, Ibrahim travelled in Afghanistan under the protection of the Taliban.’

It added: ‘Ibrahim’s syndicate has consistently aimed to destabilise the Indian government through inciting riots, acts of terrorism and civil disobedience. He is currently wanted by India for the March 12, 1993, Bombay Exchange bombings, which killed hundreds of Indians and injured over a thousand more.

‘Information from as recent as Fall 2002, indicates that Ibrahim has financially supported Islamic militant groups working against India, such as Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT). For example, this information indicates that Ibrahim has been helping finance increasing attacks in Gujarat by LeT. ’

The statement and the attached fact sheet, however, do not say how the US government came to know of Dawood’s links with the Al Qaeda, bin Laden, and the LeT.

The Executive Order and the tightening of the noose by the US had rattled the Pakistani government. Dawood Ibrahim and his cohorts had clearly been asked to shut up, as it was obvious that Indian agencies would now be waiting to pounce on any opportunity to establish that Dawood was in Pakistan.

20

Not so
Chori Chori, Chupke Chupke

C
hhota Shakeel, for time immemorial, had always harboured aspirations of being the one holding the reins of Bollywood. Highly enamoured as he was by the glitz and glamour of India’s tinseltown, he had always been left with a bitter taste in his mouth when he was told by the powers-that-be to quietly focus on his designated area of work or ‘beat’, which was extortion. He was left gritting his teeth whenever he was reminded that it was Abu Salem and Anees Ibrahim who were in control of the coveted Bollywood end of things.

Additionally, it did not help Shakeel’s cause that Salem was tremendously ambitious and wanted to procure international distribution rights for films, in addition to a number of other plans to secure control of Bollywood at home and overseas. Shakeel was sunk in a private pit of gloom, until suddenly out of the blue, the unimaginable occurred. Sometime around 1999, Anees had parted ways with Salem, something Shakeel had never imagined would happen. There were several reasons for the fallout, including Anees suspecting Salem of embezzling his money and not giving a clear account. It was not just that. The fear that Anees might get him killed had forced Salem out of Dubai. Shakeel could scarcely believe his luck.

Unopposed, Shakeel decided to try his hand at the kind of work he had been salivating over for years. One of the first things he did was to start hunting for a frontman, a face of the operation. Someone to play big boss and keep Shakeel’s role in the scheme of things under wraps. The polished, stylish, and suave Nazeem Rizvi (also referred to as Raja saab) was identified for this purpose. His job was to contact the biggest names and get them to sign up for films that would be made as per Shakeel’s designs. Moreover, Rizvi would have to get them to agree to work on the film on the designated days of the year. In Bollywood parlance, this is referred to as the slightly misleading phrase ‘getting dates’.

Rizvi got down to business immediately and set about assembling a team that included director duo Abbas and Mustan Burmawalla, referred to commonly as Abbas-Mustan. Shakeel was specific about his demands for what would be his first film. He wanted a big star. That was non-negotiable. The biggest open secret about Bollywood, as Shakeel had realised, was that star power sells more than any other element of a film, be it a brilliant plot, excellent direction, or fancy foreign locales. In other words, even a potential dud of a film could be a box office hit if it was packed with enough stars.

Getting Shah Rukh Khan or Salman Khan for the film was Shakeel’s topmost priority. Accordingly, Rizvi began to make rounds of various studios in an effort to hobnob with the stars and get them to sign on for the film. Coincidentally, the police’s Crime Branch had been keeping tabs on phone calls made by Chhota Shakeel from 14 October to 14 November 2000. This was when the police unearthed some horrifying details that helped establish the seedy links between Bollywood and the underworld as the latter was making massive inroads into Bollywood.

For the film that Abbas-Mustan were attached to direct, which later came to be known as
Chori Chori Chupke Chupke
, Rizvi had secured the services of Salman, Rani Mukherji, and Preity Zinta. The Crime Branch had discovered, through monitoring telephone conversations, that Rizvi was a mere pawn in the whole game. The rationale for having a frontman was basically that Shakeel could play it safe, especially as this was his first foray into Bollywood. If the film was a hit at the box office, the cash registers would start ringing and stars would want to come and work on the next film Rizvi was working on. But if it was a flop, it was merely a case of Shakeel having to cut his losses and finding a new frontman; his own reputation in the film business would remain untarnished.