The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday said that underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's proposal to surrender to the Indian authorities after the 1993 Mumbai blasts poses 'a very serious question' and added that Sharad Pawar, the then chief minister of Maharashtra, must respond on this issue.
"This is a very serious matter. I think Ram Jethmalani was referring to something that happened 15-20 years ago. And if this offer was made a little after the terrorist attacks in Bombay (Mumbai) behind which we all know that Dawood Ibrahim and his groups based in Pakistan were involved, then of course this becomes a very serious question. But this question can only be answered by Sharad Pawar and Ram Jethmalani," BJP leader MJ Akbar said.
Jethmalani earlier claimed Dawood had offered to surrender to the Indian authorities in the 90s, but Pawar did not carry the matter forward.
"Dawood said that he was ready to come back, but needed assurance from the government that they will not use third degree... and will keep him under house arrest. He said that he was ready to face the punishment if he was wrong," Jethmalani said.
"When he said this, I sent this in writing to Sharad Pawar... I told my son to inform about this offer to the local authorities," he added.
Jethmalani further hinted that the former Congress-led UPA regime may have also decided not to pursue the matter.
"Whether it was Sharad Pawar or the Congress, we do not know. This decision could not have been taken by Sharad Pawar alone, the Centre must have had a say in this," he said.
The 1993 bombings were a series of bomb explosions that took place in Mumbai. The single-day attacks resulted in over 350 fatalities and 1200 injuries.
