The Pirate Knows The Sea

Police sources say the D-connection could be through one of his key lieutenants in Mumbai, Mohammed Ali Shaikh. Shaikh has several aliases, largely works out of Colaba and handles the gang’s interests at the Bombay docks, in the hawala network and liaisons with certain political parties. Officially, he is a customs clearing agent but those in the know say it’s just a front for smuggling activities. Shaikh’s primary interest in the smuggling cartel is diesel and sulphur. Investigators are weighing the possibility that LeT called into use this well-entrenched network to smuggle in the RDX and ammunition. Investigators also say the explosive could have been brought into the city by the sea route even before the terrorists landed.

It’s a popular line of thought because the D-gang had similarly landed RDX in January-February 1993 off the Konkan coast—later used in the serial blasts of March 12, ’93. A customs officer was among those convicted in the case. "There was clear evidence then. There’s reason to believe that network is still alive," says a top cop. Sources say hawala transactions are still in full flow between Mumbai and Karachi; there have been specific reports of a Dawood frontman in Mumbai’s lucrative real estate business sending him a whopping Rs 120 crore in the last two months.

So, if the police know so much, why are they pussyfooting about? Well, there’s a complex set of reasons why successive governments have not been able to get Dawood back to stand trial in the 1993 case. For instance, the Mumbai police cannot go beyond the mere formalities of registering a case, if that, against someone like Shaikh; he enjoys political clout and unabashedly uses it to get his way around legalities. The D-gang businesses—overt and covert—in the city are well-known to the police and political establishment; smashing them and amputating his network could have been one way to contain him. That it has not been done in 15 years says something about police efficiency and political will.