09 May,2011 08:02 AM IST | | J Dey
After the dramatic special ops mission killing al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden at Abbottabad, Indian intelligence agencies are piecing data together to prove how Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate is offering a safe sanctuary to the country's most wanted gangster-turned-terrorist. Indian intelligence may now produce vital details about Dawood Ibrahim and his whereabouts to expose Pakistan's connivance in covertly supporting him. Their data may help if a special ops mission is planned, a senior intelligence officer disclosed.
A national intelligence agency has carried out recces of Dawood's palatial residence at Clifton in up-market Karachi. Some of these were carried out with the help of Mumbai's underworld gangsters. A former intelligence chief admitted to this reporter that it was part of his job to keep tabs on Dawood and his men in Pakistan, and that some members of the Chhota Rajan gang had attempted to assassinate Dawood.
In course of their attempts on Dawood's life, the gangsters had managed to pass on details of his movements in Karachi. This includes the topography of his palace in Clifton. Details of the recce include how a phalanx of senior ISI officials is protecting Dawood and other gangsters.
Pakistani army specialists have converted Dawood's residence into a fortress with highly sensitive electronic devices, like 'cutters', used to neutralise enemy surveillance systems. The Mumbai-based gangsters detailed how their attempts were foiled by these anti-surveillance systems.
Indian agencies had carried out two dry runs from Karachi port in the event a commando operation is given the nod to capture Dawood and his associates and bring them to India to face trials. After Osama's killing, Indian agencies have drawn a parallel with Dawood in terms of how they were provided haven in Pakistani defence areas.
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While Osama lived in a restricted area close to the Pakistani Military Academy, Dawood is housed in a neighbourhood inhabited by defence officials in Karachi. Both lived in secure compounds measuring over 15 feet, allowed only for senior defence officers. Indian agencies also believe that Abbottabad was fitted with anti-surveillance devices like Dawood's house. But the US had a much-advanced version to neutralise these devices.
