‘Dawood said he had no hand in 1993 blasts’

Mumbai: Former Delhi commissioner of police Neeraj Kumar, in a new and yet to be released book, has said that he spoke to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim three times in June 1994. The gangster had claimed he had no knowledge of the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts and had tried to speak to the Mumbai police commissioner, but was rebuffed.

“The don spoke in a typical Mumbai accent, with confidence and an utter lack of fear. He made no attempt to please me, as is the wont of certain criminals when they are dealing with state authorities. He simply said: ‘Saheb, iske pehle ki main kuchh bataoon, pehle aap batayiye ki aapko kya lagta hai ki maine Mumbai mein blast karwaye hain?’ (Sir, before I tell you anything, would you please tell me whether you too feel that I organised the blasts in Mumbai?)”, recounts Kumar in his book Dial D for Don.

“You are answering my question with a counter question. What I feel is of no consequence. If you have something to tell me, please go ahead,” the police officer remembers saying in response.

Dawood claimed that soon after the bomb blasts, when his name started appearing in the media as one of the prime suspects, he had expressed his desire to the then commissioner of police, Mumbai, to present his side of the story. But, regrettably, he had said, the then commissioner refused to talk to him.

“When I asked Dawood if he could deny Anees sending weapons to Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, he confirmed that the film star had indeed been sent arms by his younger brother. However, that had nothing to do with the blasts. Mr Dutt had come in close contact with Anees during the shooting of the film Yalgaar in Dubai. The actor had requested Anees to send weapons to him for his own security and for the security of his family members in the wake of the communal riots in Mumbai... Later, when D learnt that Anees had sent weapons to Mr Dutt without his knowledge and approval, he had beat up Anees black and blue,” writes Kumar.

He adds that there was enough irrefutable evidence in the case file to nail Dawood for his role behind the serial blasts, and calls his protestations of innocence “pure wind”.

Kumar stopped talking to Dawood after one of his superiors, “for reasons best known to him, asked me to stop communicating with D.”

That was not the last he heard from Dawood, though. While investigating the IPL betting and spot-fixing racket in June 2013, Kumar says he got a call one day on his personal mobile from an unknown number. “It was in all probability the don himself. He said, ‘Kya sahib, aap retire hone ja rahe ho, ab toh peecha chhod do (What sahib, you are about to retire, now leave me alone)”. With that, the caller hung up.