Mumbai, Aug 04: Underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, a prime accused in the March 1993 serial blasts case, and eight of his henchmen have shifted from their luxurious bungalow in Karachi to a remote hilly tract on the Pakistan-Afghan border, say sources in the intelligence.
The move is seen as a temporary measure to thwart any attempts on Dawood’s life by rival gangs. The Chhota Rajan gang was reportedly behind the July 11 blast in Karachi’s Kawish Crown Plaza shopping mall, owned by Dawood. A senior police officer said, ‘‘After the blast, there were reports about Dawood shifting to an island in Manora near Karachi. This is not true. He has been given protection by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which has shifted him to an undisclosed place in the tribal area on the Pak-Afghan border.’’ A 100-km mountain range on the border is known as a market for illegal firearms and narcotics. The tribals there strongly support the Pakistani government and most of them are under the ISI’s control. The eight associates who have shifted with Dawood are Chhota Shakeel, who now runs his extortion activities in Mumbai, Tiger Memon, another key accused in the serial blasts, Yeda Yakub, Tahir Takla, Aftab Batki, Javed Chikna, Anwar Theba and Fahim Machmach, who makes the extortion calls on behalf of Shakeel.