Does Dawood have gangrene, and will he escape being brought to justice?

A media report claims Dawood Ibrahim has life-threatening gangrene in his legs, which may require amputation

Is India's most wanted criminal Dawood Ibrahim suffering from gangrene?

CNN-News18 reported on Monday that the dreaded Mumbai mafia boss-turned-terrorist has advanced gangrene at a stage where it is life-threatening, and that he might have to undergo an amputation.

Additionally, the report cites doctors, who are treating Dawood, as saying that the gangrene is at such an advanced stage that Dawood is immobile and an amputation might be required.

It adds that Dawood is being treated at his residence in the "upscale Clifton neighbourhood of Karachi". According to the report, the doctors attending to him are from the Liaquat National Hospital, Karachi, and the Combined Military Hospital, Karachi.

 

The report is specific on Dawood’s medical condition, quoting the doctors treating the don as saying that high blood pressure and blood sugar are the causes behind the gangrene.

The Times of India, on the other hand, on Tuesday reported that senior intelligence officials and the gangster's deputy Chhota Shakeel have confirmed that Dawood is "fit".

The ToI report quotes Shakeel saying that the reports of a gangrene infection are results of rumours being floated to hinder Dawood's business.

If Dawood is indeed suffering from gangrene, and if the condition is indeed life-threatening, then it will have serious consequences for India's pursuit of justice for the Mumbai bomb blasts of 1993 that were exacted by Dawood and his gang in return for the communal riots in the city that followed the December 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.

Bringing Dawood back to India to stand trial for his role in the blasts has been a longstanding objective of Indian politicians and intelligence agencies, but one that has been met with little success, thanks to stonewalling by the Pakistani establishment.

In fact, the Pakistani government has consistently denied Dawood’s presence in that country, despite the fact that India claims it even knows the exact address of his residence in Karachi.

However, there have been reports of Indian intelligence having had at least four opportunities to nab Dawood in Pakistan, none of which worked out.

1) Dawood allegedly wanted to surrender in 1994:

According to a Hindustan Times report, a little over a year after the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, Dawood was willing to surrender and "even spoke thrice to the then CBI DIG Neeraj Kumar".

According to the report, the agency, for unknown reasons, "didn’t take him (Dawood) up on his offer".

Speaking to HT, Kumar said: “I spoke to a jittery Dawood three times in June 1994… He seemed to be toying with the idea of surrendering but had one worry — his rival gangs could finish him off if he returned to India. I told him his safety would be the responsibility of the CBI.”

However, according to the report, Kumar's seniors abruptly ordered him to avoid any further contact with the gangster.

2) Aborted assassination attempt:

According to India TV, an year after the Mumbai blasts, India’s external and counter-intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) decided to eliminate Dawood.

According to the report, a team of highly-trained assassins were to be sent to Karachi to kill Dawood at his residence.

The report adds that the PV Narasimha Rao government put the operation on hold at the last moment.

3) India also reportedly ignored a South African plan to capture Dawood in 1994:

According to a 2015 Hindustan Times report, India rejected South Africa's help in capturing the gangster.

Speaking to HT, Vappala Balachandran, former special secretary with the cabinet secretariat, said that there had been a plan to help South African intelligence authorities capture Dawood in 1994, but, after discussions at various levels, the plan was discarded.

According to the report, Balachandran had flown to South Africa to meet his counterparts in South African intelligence to discuss Nelson Mandela’s impending visit to India.

Balachandran told HT that he was given an "exhaustive presentation on a mandrax smuggling racket Dawood Ibrahim and his gang ran across Africa" by South African intelligence officers.

According to the report, Balachandran was also shown a list of 18 passports that Dawood used.

Balachandran said that the South Africans wanted India's help in the matter. According to the report, Balachandran firmed up an operational plan to capture Dawood and it was sent to the the P V Narasimha Rao government. However, despite repeated discussions, it was never approved.

4) Pulling the plug on the 'Super Boys':

According to a India TV report, in September of 2013, Indian operatives entered Pakistan covertly and were in place to eliminate Dawood, but a "last-minute phone call aborted the operation".

India TV, citing media reports, said that nine operatives had been selected for the operation by R&AW and the team operated under the code name 'Super Boys'.

According to the reports cited by India TV, Dawood used to travel from his Clifton Road home in Karachi to the Defence Housing Society every day.

The report added that the 'Super Boys' had decided to target Dawood during his daily transit and that "a dargah on the way was chosen as the spot" for the act.

On September 13, 2013, the nine operatives, according to the report, took their positions but the entire operation was aborted over a single phone call, which came minutes before the operation was executed.

According to the report, no details have emerged about the call or who made it.