New Delhi: Amid rumours that fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim has gangrene and is on death bed, the spotlight is back on India's most wanted, who continues to hide in Pakistan evading the law in India.
Dawood was on Monday reported to be under treatment at Karachi's Liaquat National Hospital and the Combined Military Hospital for gangrene, which was later refuted by his top henchman Chhota Shakeel.
Wheather true or not, Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar continues to live a lavish life under the watchful eyes of Pakistan's spy agency ISI.
Dawood's name had appeared along with Islamic State chief Abu Bakr-al-Baghdadi and al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri on the list of world's most wanted terrorists. He had also featured on the Forbes list of world's most powerful men several times.
All this points to his clout in Pakistan's elite society and his proximity to the ISI-dominated establishment there.
Despite all efforts to bring him back, Dawood has been reportedly living in a posh locality in Karachi after fleeing India ahead of the 1993 Bombay serial blasts.
Allegedly, on the behest of Pakistani spy agency ISI, Dawood is believed to have engineered Bombay blasts that left over 250 dead and hundreds injured.
Operating from Pakistan, his D-company has global underworld network, which he runs from his closely guarded mansion house in Karachi with impunity.
A Pakistan-based reporter Ghulam Hasnain had in 2001 given an exhaustive account of Dawood's king-style life in Pakistan, which was published in a magazine News Line.
Hasnain's article had exposed Islamabad's links with Dawood after which the reporter had to face serious legal trouble from the ISI.
As per Hasnain's account, Dawood used to live like a king then. He lived in a palatial house spread over 6,000 square yards, with swimming pool, tennis courts, snooker room and a high-tech gym. He wore designer clothes, owned the top of the line Mercedes cars and four-wheel drives.
Dawood is said to be very fond of both wine and women. Black Label whisky was his favourite drink back then, and he showered money on prostitutes. He was also linked popular Bollywood actress Mandakini.
Son of a police inspector, Dawood, managed to set up a network of informants in Mumbai Police, which allegedly works to his advantage even today.
Dawood is wanted in India to face trial in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts that rocked the country's financial capital, targeting the Bombay stock exchange, Zaveri bazaar and luxury hotels among other landmarks in 1993.
If reports about Dawood are to be believed, then India's most wanted man has crippling gangrene in his legs, which need to be amputated in order to save his life.
The crime syndicate boss is reportedly immobile and receiving treatment at his posh residence in the upscale Clifton neighbourhood of Karachi.
