The Hindu : Outlaws Inc.

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 15, 2002

Opinion

Opinion - News Analysis

Outlaws Inc.

Dawood Ibrahim and his men have long evaded India's lawmen. Vinay Kumar looks at some of the reasons for this.

FRIDAY 13 December was Black Friday for the CBI. From Dubai, came reports that the underworld don, Anees Ibrahim, wanted in the 1993 Bombay blasts case, had been released on bail just days after his arrest. In Kuala Lumpur a Malaysian court ruled out extraditing Ottavio Quattrocchi to India in the Rs 64 crores Bofors pay-offs case.

The Anees story, (his fate is still not clear) appears to be following the 1996 course when too he was arrested and then released on bail. It shows how deep and widespread the influence of D-company is. Anees is the brother of Dawood Ibrahim, currently a resident of Karachi, Pakistan and the "head" of D-company, who is one of the main accused in the Bombay Blasts case. On his arrest this time on December 3, Anees was in possession of a Pakistani passport.

In 1996 too, Anees had been detained, in Bahrain, travelling on a Belize passport. A CBI team did go there then but was told that Anees was wanted by the UAE authorities and was deported to Dubai, only to be granted bail after a couple of weeks. The CBI team returned empty-handed.

How does the country seeking the extradition of someone like Anees get him? "Ultimately, we have to go by the spirit behind an arrangement like an extradition treaty and the request for deportation. Organised crime and terrorism is no longer a bilateral matter, it has crossed geographical boundaries and needs global efforts to check it," says the CBI Director, P.C. Sharma.

Despite India having signed an extradition treaty with about 15 countries, things are not as bright as they should have been on the front of transferring criminals and terrorists. Says the CBI Director: "Extradition of a wanted criminal may fail or succeed but it is an internationally accepted legal procedure for transferring wanted criminals and fugitives. It may be a tedious and lengthy affair but we have to respect the sovereignty and laws of the other country."

It would require concerted efforts on the part of the CBI to get a key member the infamous D-Company back home to stand trial. In Anees' case, the CBI would need to furnish concrete evidence of his role in the Bombay blasts that devastated India's commercial capital and killed nearly 300 people, injured 700 and damaged property worth Rs. 30 crores.

But it would not be irrelevant to point out that evidence against him in the Bombay blasts case is mainly circumstantial, based on statements of other accused recorded under Section 15 of the now defunct Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA). It is up to the UAE authorities to take note of it or just throw it out.

Senior officials cite post-9/11 scenario as one of the reasons for the world community to show the commitment towards fighting the terror network globally and containing activities of saboteurs, criminals, drug syndicates and smugglers. And, they have had some successes since 9/11.

Aftab Ansari, the main accused in the shooting outside the U.S. consulate in Kolkata and two other wanted underworld dons, Raju Anadkad and Muthappa Rai, were deported to India from Dubai this year.

Citing Aftab Ansari's quick deportation to India in February from UAE, seasoned investigators point out that there were several factors that went against Ansari. First, he did not enjoy the protection of Dawood Ibrahim who still wields considerable influence in Pakistani and UAE establishments. Also, the diplomatic pressure by the U.S. helped India get him back quickly.

In the case of Anees, however, his business interests in the UAE and D-company's influence give him, his brother and their cronies considerable leverage in their dealings with the administration and law officials in the UAE. Even in India, they cast a long shadow.

Take the case of several Bollywood personalities who were witnesses in a case involving the film producer, Bharat Shah, over his alleged links with the underworld. Now, they have turned hostile and the prosecution's case is in danger of falling apart.

But even where the influence of the D-company does not extend, there is no guarantee of success. One more botched up attempt to extradite an underworld don was in the case of Chhota Rajan. Rajan, who had fallen out with Dawood's gang, survived an attempt on his life in Bangkok.

Even as the Indian authorities were getting their act together he made a dramatic and successful escape from hospital. He has never been caught.

Barely two months ago, the NDA Government went to town over the arrest of another underworld don, Abu Salem, in Lisbon. Salem is accused in the Bombay Blasts case accused and also wanted in connection with the murder of T-series music millionaire, Gulshan Kumar.

A CBI team was rushed to Lisbon in September-end hoping to have him deported. But again ran into legal hurdles that led the agency up the time-consuming path of extradition. It can, however, draw solace from the fact that Abu Salem is not yet out and is cooling his heels in a prison in Portugal.

While one man is in jail and several have been freed in the sensational Purulia arms drop in December 1995, the prime accused, Kim Davy, a Dutch national, gave Mumbai police the slip.

Although he has been sighted in Denmark in the recent past the CBI has been helpless in its efforts to bring him to India to stand trial. A CBI team visited Copenhagen and met with officials there with evidence against Davy. This was also a subject that was raised by the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, on a recent visit to Denmark. But with little result.

Criminals who are networked into global crime and terror syndicates are difficult to deal with. Mafia dons, drug syndicates and terror networks find easy ways of spreading their activities, demolishing geographical boundaries through illegal means such as hawala. If they face heat in one country, they find ways to take shelter in another country. All it takes is another passport, another name and a new identity. It is here that international cooperation through a body such as Interpol can prove useful for the country seeking to get custody of a fugitive.

With economic offenders things are a little less complicated. Yet the High Court in Kuala Lumpur described the case against Mr. Quattrocchi as being "vague" and "unsubstantiated". Now the only option left for the CBI is to approach the Malaysian Supreme Court.

"We are still hopeful but we do not have any control over the courts," says the CBI Director. Mr. Quattrocchi may have got away, but India has had a certain amount of success with getting "economic offenders" like him.

In the 1970s, Dharam Teja, a shipping tycoon of Jayanti Shipping Company, was brought home by the CBI from Costa Rica. Two Narang brothers, wanted in a case of stolen antiques, were also brought to India from England during that period.

Later, Niranjan Shah was deported from Abu Dhabi for his involvement in the multi-crore rupee Bank Securities scam. There have been instances of a few other economic offenders and criminals being handed over by India to the U.S., Singapore and Canada.

In the recent past, the CBI did manage to get three foreign nationals accused in the Rs. 138-crore urea scam. Two Turkish nationals, Cihan Karanci and Tunkay Alankus, were sent here by the Switzerland Government and the third accused, A.E. Pinto, a Brazilian national, was extradited from the U.K. All three are cooling their heels in Tihar jail in Delhi.

The trial has lasted almost five years, which speaks volumes for the country's excruciatingly slow criminal justice system.

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