We all know the role played by Dawood Ibrahim in 1993 Mumbai blasts. At least 30% of the evil that happens in the great city of Mumbai can be traced back to Dawood. But there was one confirmed chance to eliminate him, but the plan was foiled by no other than Mumbai Police itself.

The plot goes back to 2005.

Current National Security Advisor Ajit Doval had retired as director of the Intelligence Bureau in January that year. News broke that Dawood’s daughter Mahrukh was to marry Pakistani cricketer Javed Miandad’s son Junaid.
The Nikah was to be performed at Mecca on 9 July while the Walimah (reception) was fixed for 23 July at the Grand Hyatt in Dubai. As soon as Indian intelligence agencies got wind of Dawood’s plan, a plan was hatched to eliminate the don in Dubai. IB officials felt that this was their best chance to eliminate him, as it was very rarely that they had specific information about where India’s most wanted man was going to be. By the middle of 2000, international pressure had begun to mount against Pakistan to act against Dawood Ibrahim who had been designated by the United Nations as a globally wanted terrorist. It had become difficult for Dawood to move in and out of Pakistan easily. But there was no way he was going to skip the reception.

The government wanted full deniability in case the plan went bad and so a decision was taken to engage members of the Chota Rajan gang instead of sending commandos. Doval was made in charge. Chota Rajan had split with Dawood after the Bombay blasts of 1993 and was looking for a chance to avenge the attack on him in Bangkok in 2000 for which he deputed two of his trusted men Vicky Malhotra and Farid Tanasha.

But that’s when things started to go wrong. Unknown to the IB officials, cops in the Mumbai police got to know about the presence of members of the Chota Rajan gang in India. Singh alleges that Mumbai police officers deliberately sabotaged Operation Dawood because of their close ties with the gangster. However, according to media reports of the time, Deputy Commissioner of Police in the Mumbai Crime Branch Dhananjay Kamlakar was dispatched to Delhi by his seniors with the explicit instruction to arrest the members of the Chota Rajan gang. Kamlakar later said he was told that the Rajan gang members had entered India to eliminate a politician or top businessman.

The IB’s plan was ready. One afternoon when Doval was doing a final briefing of the Rajan gang members, Kamlakar’s team dashed into the hotel. At that time the three of them were reportedly revising the blueprint of the Grand Hyatt hotel to determine the best position to install the sharpshooters. Doval reportedly lost his cool and tried to explain to the cops who he was but Kamlakar arrested Tanasha and Malhotra and took them to Mumbai.

Doval was forced to back off. One of the most audacious operations to eliminate the underworld don unravelled because of an ugly turf war between India’s security agencies. The next morning the incident was widely reported in the major national dailies.

Later when asked Doval for his reaction, the super sleuth denied all knowledge and said that he had been watching TV at home at that time. Singh says that India should not be disheartened because one operation did not materialize.

Before the Hindus blame others for our failures, it is important that the Hindus build their own character. It is not a small thing when the Police department of a great city is taking such steps to save one of the biggest enemies of the nation.

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