Chhota Rajan men showed the way in 2001

By most accounts, India’s most wanted man Dawood Ibrahim has a safe haven in Karachi, much like the one Osama Bin Laden was provided in Abbotabad. Now, with the elimination of the world’s most wanted terrorist in a surgical strike by US Navy Seals, there’s a clamour in India for something similar from our side.

Not many people know, however, that a covert op to take out Dawood has already been attempted at least once. A two-member team of the Chhota Rajan gang, comprising Vicky Malhotra and Fareed Tanasha, came very close to executing Dawood in Karachi in 2001, according to people closely familiar with the matter. These sources also say that the operation was backed by the Indian Intelligence Bureau.

After the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai, Dawood’s friend-turned-foe Rajan had vowed to eliminate him. Eight years later, after meticulous planning and setting up of a logistical support network on the ground, two of Rajan’s most trusted aides, Malhotra and Tanasha, were sent to Pakistan.

“Armed with fake passports indicating they were Pakistani nationals, they entered Islamabad via Dubai. From there, the duo travelled to Karachi and identified the place where Dawood was staying with his family: a bungalow called White House,” said an underworld source.

With the help of some ‘friends’ (believed to be undercover Indian intelligence agents in Pakistan), they took up residence close to the bungalow. “While, Malhotra took on a job as a driver, Tanasha started ironing clothes at a local laundry,” the source revealed.
For about two months, the two of them kept a watch on the house, and then worked out a plan of action. “They found it was almost impossible to penetrate the security. He was guarded by 12 AK-47-wielding Afghan bodyguards.”

Rajan’s men did not see any possibility of entering the bungalow, but they did find a chink in Dawood’s armour. “As a routine, Dawood would go to the nearby mosque to pray every Friday afternoon. His car would be followed by an escort vehicle carrying his bodyguards.”

The plan was for Malhotra to ram into Dawood’s car on a motorcycle, making it look like an accident. The moment the vehicles stopped, Tanasha would shoot at the car with an AK-47 assault rifle. “They thought it could be done because they would have had the element of surprise in their favour,” said the source. However, the mission was aborted two days before the attack was scheduled. “No one really knows why it was aborted,” the source added.

As much as the precision with which the Navy Seals carried out their Operation Geronimo, vital to its success was US President Barack Obama’s willingness to back it all the way, regardless of the avalanche of criticism it would have drawn had it gone horribly wrong. For any attempt on Dawood to have a realistic chance of success, it requires a similar political will. “We have the resources. What we need is a government policy that gives us the ‘go ahead’,” says former NSG chief TR Kakkar.

Experts say the key to a covert operation is a small but effective command structure. “A one-person operational command should be set up supported by a team of highly-skilled officers, specialised experts, and intelligence analysts,” says a security expert.

This team, however, will have to rely mostly on human intelligence on the ground, and take advantage of our geographical proximity and ability to mingle with the local population. Unlike the US, India does not have the kind of satellite technology to put Dawood’s house under electronic surveillance. That’s why the best option even now is to carry out a covert op with a spy network. “Members of Dawood’s rival gangs would make the best spies as they have a personal vendetta against him,” says a senior officer from the Mumbai police. Weapons and other equipment will have to be smuggled in from a gulf country via the sea route, hidden possibly in containers of consumer goods like TVs and music systems.

The difficulty lies of course in the fact that Dawood is not only aware that he’s a hunted man, but also obviously enjoys the support of the Pak security setup. But as the strike on Osama demonstrated, there’s always that little chink in the armour that can bring the prey down.