NEW DELHI: After issuing endless demarches to Pakistan and pleading with powerful world leaders to help extradite India’s most wanted underworld fugitive, the Indian government told parliament on Tuesday it had no idea where Dawood Ibrahim is located.

The admission contradicted the government’s own stand that the wanted gangster was either in Pakistan or Afghanistan. His name has figured as a pending matter of great importance for India during its summit meetings with Pakistan.

Now, suggesting that either his trail had gone cold or something worse might have happened, India’s Minister for Home Haribhai Chaudhury said any question about seeking Dawood’s extradition would arise only if he was correctly located.

The statement was made by the home ministry on Tuesday, in response to a question asked by BJP MP Nityanand Rai.

“The subject has not been located so far. Extradition process with regard to Dawood Ibrahim would be initiated once the subject is located,” the statement said.

NDTV quoted sources as saying that home ministry officials have now gone into a huddle, trying to find out the source of what is being seen as a blunder.

Sources say the answer was framed by the ministry’s internal security 2 unit, and it was made in the context of the gangster’s extradition.

Published in Dawn, May 6th, 2015

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