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By Prateek Chakraborty/India Today
New Delhi, December 18: Is underworld don Dawood Ibrahim critical or dead? Social media went abuzz on Monday after sources said that he had been admitted to a hospital in Karachi for suspected poisoning.
This isn’t the first time that unconfirmed news of Dawood Ibrahim being critical or dead has been circulated. If one takes into account such reports, India’s most-wanted criminal must have died multiple times.
Dawood was hospitalised due to serious health complications two days ago, sources told India Today TV. The sources said that he was being kept under tight security inside the hospital. He is the only patient on his floor and only top hospital authorities and his close family members have access to him, they added.
The life of Dawood Ibrahim, the mastermind of the 1993 Mumbai blasts and who is the most-wanted gangster in India, has been shrouded in secrecy for the past many years. India has said it has irrefutable evidence that Dawood is based in Karachi.
While there have been previous reports claiming that the underworld don contracted Covid-19 or suffered a heart attack and died, his gang rejected such claims and asserted that their boss was alive and well.
The recurring cycle of rumours of his death on social media have proven to be unfounded.
Pakistan unwittingly admitted in 2020 that Dawood was in its territory when it submitted a list to global anti-terror funding body Financial Action Task Force (FATF) with his name in it.
While the unconfirmed reports of Dawood Ibrahim’s ‘poisoning’ have certainly created chatter on social media, here are some previous instances when the underworld don was said to have ‘died’.
In 2020, media reports emerged stating that Dawood Ibrahim and his wife got Covid-19, with some even claiming he had passed away from the virus. However, these proved to be false. But, the infection did take the life of Dawood Ibrahim’s nephew Siraj Kaskar in Karachi.
In 2017, there were reports that Dawood Ibrahim died of a heart attack. Some reports suggested he had a brain tumour that led to his worsening health. However, the reports later proved to be false. His right-hand man, Chota Shakeel, said the underworld don was in good health.
There was another rumour on social media in 2016 that Dawood Ibrahim got gangrene on his legs and doctors might have had to amputate them. But, these reports also turned out to be false.
Dawood Ibrahim runs an organised crime syndicate — informally called D-Company — which he established in Mumbai in the 1970s. His criminal activities include murder, extortion, targeted killing, drug trafficking and terrorism.
India and the US have labelled Dawood Ibrahim a global terrorist since 2003. A reward of $25 million has been announced by the US for information leading to his capture due to his suspected involvement in the 1993 Mumbai attacks.
In 2011, he was listed as number three on the FBI’s “The World’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives” list. Despite being one of the most wanted men in the world, Dawood Ibrahim has managed to evade capture for decades.
His influence extends beyond criminal activities, and he has been linked to financing Bollywood films. He is also believed to have associations with various celebrities. He remains a fugitive with his whereabouts a subject of intense speculation.
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