Pakistan finally admits don Dawood Ibrahim lives in Karachi

After denying for years that notorious gangster Dawood Ibrahim lives in Pakistan, the country finally admitted that one of India's most wanted men and a global gangster, Dawood Ibrahim, lives in Karachi.

India accuses Dawood of planning and executing the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts with support from various Pakistani elements. The gruesome attacks on India’s financial capital Mumbai left 257 people dead and 700 injured.

Pakistan admitted to Dawood’s presence in the country in its disclosure of 88 banned terror groups before the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The country is under pressure to stop the funding of and support for terrorists and terror organisations otherwise it faces financial sanctions by the Paris-based FATF.

Under international pressure, Pakistan listed out many of Dawood’s addresses – ‘White House, Near Saudi Mosque, Clifton’, Karachi, Pakistan, as well as ‘House Nu 37 – 30th Street – defence, Housing Authority, Karachi’ and ‘Palatial bungalow in the hilly area of Noorabad in Karachi’.

To escape financial sanctions, Pakistan said it had imposed financial sanctions on terror groups and their leaders, including Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar and Dawood Ibrahim, by ordering seizure of properties and freezing their bank accounts.

The government issued two notifications on August 18 putting sanctions on terror leaders like Harfiz Saeed – Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief who India holds responsible for the 26/11 Mumbai attack; Masood Azhar – Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief, and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, who had made Pakistan his global crime headquarters.

For decades India, supported by the UN, had been alleging that Pakistan has been sheltering and supporting Dawood who has been living in Karachi – Pakistan's financial capital. Ironically, in a similar manner, Pakistan had successfully taken the US for a ride for almost 10 years over Osama Bin Laden even as it kept Laden under its wing..