ISLAMABAD: The third meeting of Indo-Pak Joint Anti-Terrorism Mechanism (ATM) is being held in Islamabad on June 24 during which the Pakistani side is expected to address a number of queries that have been posed in advance by the Indian authorities with regard to the lingering issue of the arrest and extradition of two most wanted Indian fugitives - the D Company’s don Dawood Ibrahim and the Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar.
Foreign office sources in Islamabad say that although Pakistan has been expressing ignorance about the whereabouts of the Indian fugitives since 2005, the Indian authorities have posed fresh queries by citing some media reports which show they are indeed in Pakistan.
India’s home secretary VK Duggal handed over a list of 25 wanted people to Pakistan on August 29, 2005. They include Dawood, Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed and Syed Salahuddin.
The Indian authorities, through a recent diplomatic communique, have requested that the Indian delegation led by Vivek Katju, Additional Secretary (Political & International Organisations) in the ministry of external affairs would like to discuss this issue during the upcoming meeting.
One media report being cited by India states that the D-Company is now officially part of the Lashkar-e-Toiba’s terror network, with the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) getting Dawood Ibrahim to merge his gang with the jehadi group as part of a game plan to crank up its anti-India campaign.
The report further states that the underworld gang and the Lashkar jehadis have been knocked into a single entity which has serious implications for Indian internal security.
Another international media report cited in the communique states that Masod Azhar, released from an Indian jail in exchange for hostages on board a hijacked Indian Airlines aircraft in 2000 was recently released from his house arrest in Pakistan, and paraded through Bahawalpur with armed supporters.
