New Delhi: It is true that Chhota Rajan possesses a huge information base on infamous don Dawood Ibrahim but retired Delhi top cop Neeraj Kumar told Firstpost that how much of that information actually reached us depended on the Indian agencies' capability to extract it. Moreover, to get hold of Dawood, the information had to be actionable as well.
On being asked about the chances of Dawood, accused in the 1993 Mumbai blasts, being brought to India, 1976 batch IPS officer Kumar said that it was possible in theory but not quite so in practicality.
"It's generally believed that Dawood is in Karachi. He's in an enemy country, not in Bali or Thailand from where he could easily be nabbed and extradited. Pakistan has given him strong protection and ensured that he doesn't get into the hands of Indian security agencies," said Kumar.
Kumar's yet-to-be-released memoir Dial D for Don speaks about the cop's investigations into the underworld activities and gives a lot of information on Dawood, and the 9/11 attacks in the US. The book also reveals how India indirectly contributed a part of the funding for the attack.
"A part of the ransom money received in the kidnapping of Khadim footwear's CMD Partha Pratim Roy Burman in Kolkata — around $100,000 (which at the time, was worth Rs 49 lakh), was passed on by the abductor Aftab Ansari to the chief of the 9/11 attackers Mohammad Atta through terrorist Omar Sheikh, who was released by India in exchange for hijacked Indian Airlines plane IC-814 in 1999," he said in a Firstpost interview.
Asif Raza Khan, a Harkat-ul Mujahideen terrorist had divulged this information about his "boss" Aftab Ansari, who currently awaits hanging in a West Bengal jail. Ansari, who is also responsible for the attack on the American Centre in Kolkata, had shared a part of the ransom money with Omar Sheikh.
The BCCI anti-corruption wing is currently headed by Kumar, who explained the interconnection between Dawood, cricket and the underworld. Soon after he had led an operation against the Indian Premier League tournament spot-fixing issue, in which a few cricketers were involved, Kumar received a call "in all probability" from the elusive don: "Kya saheb, aap retire hone ja rahe ho, ab toh peecha chhod do (What, Sir? You are about to retire, at least stop chasing us now)."
Kumar had received the call a few days before his retirement in July 2013. "It was a one-way communication and before I could reply, the call was disconnected," he said. However, he didn't pursue the matter after his retirement.
Indian security agencies say that Dawood, along with his wife Mehjabeen Shaikh, son Moeen Nawaz and daughters Mehreen, Mazia and Mahrukh, are currently working from Karachi's upscale neighbourhood of Clifton, and are based with the syndicate chief in Pakistan. Mahrukh is married to former cricket captain Javed Miandad's son, Junaid. This explains Dawood's cricket connection.
On being asked the possibility of ISIS spreading its roots in India, Kumar stated that since he hadn't been in the government service for more than two and a half years, he was out of touch with recent occurances and information from intelligence agencies. "They may, they may not," he said, "the threat is always there."
On allegations that Kumar had treated Dawood rather softly in his book, the ex-cop, who had also worked in the CBI, said that he had only put forward facts.