New Delhi: As India continues to build more pressure on Pakistan to hand over 1993 Mumbai serial blasts mastermind Dawood Ibrahim, former Home Secretary and now BJP leader RK Singh has made a sensational claim that a covert operation was planned by the Indian authorities to kill the fugitive underworld don sometimes back.
Singh made this claim in an interview to Aaj Tak news channel during which he regretted that the entire operation was compromised by some corrupt Mumbai Police officials.
The former Home Secretary also stressed that PM Narendra Modi should act firmly against gangster Dawood, who is the country's most wanted criminal.
Disclosing details of the highly secret operation, Singh said that it was launched when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister and current NSA Ajit Doval was the chief of the IB.
Elaborating on the operation, Singh disclosed that the Indian government had roped in some elements from Dawood's rival Chhota Rajan's gang and they were later imparted training at a secret location outside Maharashtra.
However, some Mumbai Police officials who were in regular touch with the D-company landed up at the training camp with arrest warrants for the covert operatives who had been engaged by India.
The entire operation to take down Dawood failed due to these rogue elements in Mumbai Police, Singh claimed. This is the first time that a high-level government official has confirmed about India's covert operation to take down Dawood Ibrahim.
Noting that Dawood and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed are being protected by the powerful Pakistan Army and the ISI, Singh stressed that a secret operation must be carried out in the manner the United States did to kill terrorists Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar.
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Coming down heavily on Islamabad for repeatedly denying Dawood's presence in Pakistan, Singh added that Pakistan will never admit that the underworld don is there.
It will also shamelessly deny the presence of other terrorists despite funding and training these terror groups on its soil, the BJP MP said, adding, “India must repeat the Myanmar operation in Pakistan.”
Singh also ridiculed the fact that PM Narendra Modi's advisers were not giving him the right advice on this issue. He added that if one operation fails, the government shouldn't be disheartened but launch another operation right away.
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The retired bureaucrat also alleged that specially-trained private security men comprising mostly ex-army men protect Dawood in Pakistan under the supervision of the ISI.
Singh, however, exuded confidence that PM Modi’s recent visit to the UAE would yield desirable results. He did acknowledge that Dawood still has significant influence in Dubai.
Singh stressed that India must stop dialogue with its hostile neighbour and instead deal with the situation in a strategic manner.
Singh also lauded the government's action against the separatists ahead of the NSA level talks with Pakistan.
