AS THE NEWS of Dawood Ibrahim’s detention by the ISI flashed across news channels a couple of days ago, every Indian had just one question on his mind—would the most wanted man on the list of Indian intelligence agencies be put in front of the law? Ibrahim, wanted in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, had been escaping from the clutches of law for years.

Sheikh Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, also known as Dawood Ibrahim is a don of the organised crime syndicate and heads the D-Company. Presently featuring on the most wanted list of Interpol for being involved in terrorist activities, Dawood is accused of having a vast illegal empire, which has made him a byword in law enforcement circles, somewhat similar to that of Osama Bin Laden. Dawood became India’s most wanted man after the Mumbai serial blasts in 1993, which he is believed to have masterminded. As a result of persistent lobbying by the Indian Government, in 2003, the Government of United States declared him a global terrorist, after which Dawood is believed to have moved to Pakistan (from UAE, where he was previously residing).

Since the spread of news regarding Dawood’s new hiding place in Pakistan, the Government of Pakistan has been constantly denying having knowledge of any such thing. Though US and Indian intelligence agencies have many a times provided adequate evidences of Dawood getting support from the Government of Pakistan and his linkups with the Pashtun Mafia, Government of Pakistan has always shown its ignorance over the matter. The Interpol has even provided a list of Dawood’s secret hideouts in Pakistan.

India realised the magnitude of threat to the nation security from Dawood Ibrahim only after a series of thirteen powerful blasts, took place in Mumbai on 12 March 1993. The blasts shook the country’s commercial capital completely. The most destructive blasts in the history of India, it resulted in the death of over 250 civilians and another 700 sustained injuries. Not only terrorist activities, but Dawood is also believed to be controlling the ‘Hawala System’, which is responsible for transferring money without the knowledge of officials, thus resulting in huge losses to the Government.

However little, yet intelligence agencies have had their share of luck in catching members of D-Company and thus trying to curb down their activities. What proved to be a major blow to the gang was when ten members of D-Company were arrested and extradited from the UAE by the Bombay Crime Branch.

If we look back through the activities and operations of Dawood’s D-Company, there is strong evidence to suggest that the group has the backing of ISI, the Government of Pakistan as well as the authorities in the United Arab Emirates. It is one of the major reasons why Dawood manages to roam freely in these countries despite being the most wanted person for Indian intelligence agencies (as well as for the US up to a certain extent).

However, certain developments as well as the news of the recent clash between Dawood and the ISI suggests that there may be a case of a rift between the two groups in which the Pakistan Government may have started to realise that the D-Company may prove to be a threat even for them. It will not be of much surprise then, if someday we hear the news of the arrest (or even killing) of the D-Company mastermind at the hands of the Inter-Services Intelligence. Whatever the reason, one thing is for sure that the world would be a much better place to live in without such notorious gangsters. The end of the D-Company may be near and certain.