Mumbai, May 6: While the country is going hoarse debating why India can't do an Abbottabad on fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim, our own enemy no 1, the don has quietly slipped out of Karachi with his trusted aide Chhota Shakeel.
Dawood and Shakeel left their Clifton residences on Monday evening, just hours after US Navy Seals gunned down Osama at a plush residential compound in Abbottabad, a garrison town near capital Islamabad. The two were last spotted at Karachi's Jinnah International Airport on the evening of May 2.
Sources in Mumbai police said the gangster duo has been moved to a safe house in Murree, a hill resort town an hour's ride from Islamabad.
The central agencies started tracking Dawood and Shakeel's movements when they noticed a sudden drop in calls made and received by Shakeel on Monday and Tuesday.
The Mumbai Mirror on Friday reported that underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his trusted henchman Chhota Shakeel have quietly slipped out of Karachi after the US Special Forces commandoes raided a mansion in Abbottabad and killed Osama bin Laden.
The report quoting "sources" in Mumbai police says, both Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel have been shifted to an ISI safehouse in the hilly resort of Murree near Islamabad. After the two got reports of the US commando attack, they packed up their bags and headed for Karachi airport.
Sources in Mumbai police told the newspaper that the two were last spotted at the Karachi International Airport on May 2 evening, hours after the Abbottabad operation.
The report said, Dawood and Shakeel left their Clifton residences on Monday evening, just hours after US Navy Seals gunned down Osama at a plush residential compound in Abbottabad.
Sources in Mumbai police said the gangster duo has been moved to a safe house in Murree, a hill resort town an hour's ride from Islamabad.
The central agencies started tracking Dawood and Shakeel's movements when they noticed a sudden drop in calls made and received by Shakeel on Monday and Tuesday.
“Shakeel handles Dawood's activities in Mumbai and external intelligence agencies track all his calls,” said a senior police officer.
When local contacts were activated, they revealed that Dawood and Shakeel left their houses on Monday evening, flew down to Islamabad, and were then driven to Murree.
The contacts revealed that other members of their families have stayed back in Karachi, indicating that gangsters would return once international media attention moves away from Pakistan.
The central agencies passed on the information on Dawood's movements to the Mumbai police for verification on Wednesday.
"We cross checked the information with our local sources and it was found to be true," Crime Branch sources said.
Sources said this is not for the first time that Dawood has been moved out of Karachi by his ISI handlers. "In the past, whenever India stepped up pressure for his extradition, Dawood was moved elsewhere," a Crime Branch officer said.
When contacted, Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) Himanshu Roy, however, said that he was not aware of Dawood and Shakeel's departure from Karachi. "I have no information on this so far. But I'll get things verified," he said.
