Will you hand over Dawood Ibrahim, Hafiz Saeed to India? Pakistan asked at Interpol meet; FIA chief puts finger on lips

Chief of Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency Mohsin Butt chose to remain silent when confronted with questions from the media in Delhi on Tuesday about handing over to India Dawood Ibrahim and other fugitive terrorists suspected to be safely cocooned in his country.

Butt, who is in the national capital to attend the 90th General Assembly of Interpol, apparently avoided, till the last minute, entering the plenary hall at the Pragati Maidan, the event venue that was swarming with reporters looking for a statement from him on the whereabouts of the most-wanted terrorists.

The officer, who is heading a two-member Pakistan delegation, preferred to stay in the dining hall, where lunch was organised, and entered the venue just before the arrival of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was announced.

Once Prime Minister Modi's address was over, he was surrounded by reporters who wanted to know about the location of the 1993 Mumbai blast mastermind Dawood Ibrahim, designated as a global terrorist by the United Nations, and asked when he and other terrorists wanted by India like Jaish-e-Muhammad chief Masood Azhar and 9/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed will be handed over.

#WATCH | Pakistan's director-general of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Mohsin Butt, attending the Interpol conference in Delhi, refuses to answer when asked if they will handover underworld don Dawood Ibrahim & Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed to India. pic.twitter.com/GRKQWvPNA1

— ANI (@ANI) October 18, 2022

Butt stayed mum and walked away even as media persons fired a volley of questions at the top Pakistani officer. He, in fact, raised a finger to his lips in response. 

He was appointed as the director-general of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) which is also the National Central Bureau of Pakistan to coordinate with Interpol in July this year.

Both underworld gangster Dawood Ibrahim and alleged 26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed are designated as terrorists ‘most wanted’ by Indian security agencies and are believed to be living in Pakistan.