By Arvind Chaturvedi
They say a wound inflicted in the past never truly heals. If it is scratched open, it begins to bleed once again…
The recently released film Dhurandhar has once again reopened the wounds inflicted on India in 1993 by Dawood Ibrahim and his gang. A nationwide debate has erupted over bringing Dawood back to India.
But amid this debate, Tehelka has accessed a tape that could expose the faces of several film personalities. Everyone is familiar with the dark history of Mumbai’s underworld.
The rise of Mumbai’s underworld
The 1990s were a dark chapter in the history of India’s judicial system and law and order—a period that saw Mumbai, the country’s financial capital, increasingly trapped in the grip of crime.
Life moved at a frenetic pace. The salty sea air left people drenched in sweat. An estimated 30% to 40% of the migrants arriving in Mumbai every day—roughly 400 to 600 people—would somehow struggle to establish themselves in the city, finding small jobs, living in slums or rented rooms.
Poverty, hunger, unemployment and the compulsion not to return home gave criminals an open opportunity to exploit such people.
This gave rise to organised crime in Mumbai. Organised criminals spread their tentacles so deeply across the financial capital that they effectively created a company of their own. It was called the ‘D-Company’.
Names such as Dawood Ibrahim began challenging the state’s administrative machinery. The fear created by criminals who measured their power through the barrel of a pistol grew to such an extent that an organised army with a network of nearly 25,000 operatives was built.
The gang began to appear more powerful than the police administration. Its black empire of extortion, forced collections and ransom had already extended into Bollywood’s financial ecosystem.
However, when crime crosses the limits of any system, the state eventually displays another form of power.
That is what happened in Mumbai. It came before the world in the form of the Lokhandwala encounter.
Notorious criminals such as Maya Dolas and Dilip Buwa were eliminated in the presence of television cameras for the first time, laying the foundation of what came to be known as the ‘encounter culture’ in Indian policing.
The communal riots of 1992 and the devastating Mumbai bomb blasts that followed in 1993 completely transformed the underworld’s ecosystem.
Dawood had begun his career by smuggling gold and electronic goods.
Dawood’s early years and the DRI connection
B.V. Kumar, former Director General of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and a celebrated Indian Customs officer known as the ‘Super Sleuth’, revealed in his book DRI and the Dons that information about Dawood Ibrahim’s early hideouts had been provided to him by a purported underworld figure named Rashid Arba, who was married to the sister of renowned Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar.
Speaking to journalists, B.V. Kumar said the purpose of writing a book about underworld dons, particularly Dawood Ibrahim and other criminals, was to highlight the extraordinary contribution of the DRI in initiating tough action against some of South Asia’s most dangerous underworld syndicates.
Recalling his meeting with Dawood, Kumar said that he was posted as Customs Commissioner in Ahmedabad in the mid-1980s.
Around the same period, a bloody gang war—marked by gunfire—between Dawood Ibrahim and the Karim Lala gang had created panic in society and affected peace in Maharashtra and Gujarat.
Kumar writes in his book that one day, while returning by car from Porbandar to Mumbai, Dawood was accidentally shot by one of his own associates, who was sitting in the back seat.
The bullet had actually been fired at Alamzeb, a rival gangster of D-Company who was loyal to Karim Lala.
The former IRS officer says in his book that the bullet struck Dawood in the neck, but the injury was minor. Dawood was taken to Sayaji Hospital in Baroda.
“I received information about the incident and immediately spoke to the then Baroda Police Commissioner P.K. Dutta.”
During questioning, Dawood admitted that he was involved in ‘number two business’ (illegal activities). He was speaking to me in Hindi. He appeared to me to be an ordinary person who looked calm.
The questioning lasted half an hour in Dutta’s office. I then returned to Ahmedabad and obtained a detention warrant against Dawood under COFEPOSA, Kumar said.
Asked how Dawood became one of Asia’s most dangerous underworld dons, Kumar said the biggest reason appeared to be a lack of political will.
“Dawood used his financial power to lure everyone—from Bollywood stars to cricketers and perhaps even some senior politicians.”
Dutta said that as soon as India signed an extradition treaty with the UAE, the underworld kingpin was forced to leave Dubai and seek permanent refuge in Pakistan.
“He is no longer as influential as he was in the UAE,”
where he socialised with celebrities.
The author also claims that Dawood is not in good health these days and may remain in Pakistan until everything is over for the fugitive criminal.
From gangster to international terrorist
After the demolition of the Babri Masjid, he embarked on the path of terrorism.
Twelve serial blasts and the deaths of more than 250 innocent civilians elevated Dawood from a mere gangster to an international terrorist.
As a result of tough state-led operations, more than 1,200 gangsters had been killed by 2003 and much of the underworld’s structure had virtually collapsed.
Yet Dawood remained untouched.
However, the most worrying aspect of the entire episode was that, while fighting crime, the boundaries of the system itself began to blur.
When policemen who had hunted criminals themselves ended up behind bars, it became clear that the rule of law could not be established through ‘shortcut encounters’ without strong judicial reforms.
Today, Dawood’s influence has been reduced to little more than a name and the remnants of his gang have largely been confined to ordinary criminal activities.
But the period from the 1990s to the present offers a stern lesson: if the state fails to address administrative and social inequalities in time, and law-enforcement agencies forget constitutional limits, society ultimately pays a heavy price.
The mystery surrounding Dawood
The mystery surrounding Dawood, however, continues.
Despite India handing over concrete evidence of his presence in Pakistan several times, Dawood is reportedly still living there with his family.
Tehelka’s tape examines Dawood Ibrahim’s network.
When Dawood lived in Dubai, he was known to enjoy throwing lavish parties. People from the Indian film industry also attended these gatherings.
At one such party in Dubai after the Mumbai bomb blasts, a well-known villain from the film industry was present.
The tape reveals just how extensive Dawood Ibrahim’s network was.
They say a photograph or video captured by a camera can always bring a hidden truth to light.
In an unknown location in Dubai, a large number of people have gathered. It is a large hall.
Suddenly, a shining star from the film world appears before the crowd. His name is Gulshan Grover.
The moment the star arrives, noise erupts from all sides.
“Bhai has arrived, Bhai has arrived…”
Then the world’s most-wanted Dawood Ibrahim makes his entry.
Surrounded by the crowd, Dawood can be seen at the time with one of his close lieutenants.
The superstar first shakes hands with Dawood and then embraces him.
Such warmth towards this villain, being seen with a criminal accused of causing the deaths of hundreds of people in India, raises several questions.
As the film star moves forward, the crowd becomes increasingly uncontrollable. Everyone wants a photograph with the superstar.
There is noise everywhere:
“Look here… come towards me… take a photograph with me too…”
The superstar is busy trying to please everyone. He gives some people autographs, while putting an arm around others and posing for photographs in an attempt to make them happy.
He had gone there at the don’s invitation. He could hardly afford to upset anyone.
Then comes the moment when he is asked to perform. The actor recites dialogues from his films in Hindi.
After that, introductions begin with Dawood’s associates present at the gathering.
Then, in the distance, Dawood’s wife Mehjabeen appears.
The superstar who has come from India walks towards her and poses for a photograph with her.
The party is still underway.
Tehelka has a tape of approximately half an hour. There are several other characters in it, whose identities and details we will reveal in the next issue.
Our Deputy Editor, Riyaz Hashmi, has tracked Dawood’s hideouts across the world.
Five locations, combined with old addresses recorded in international databases, cannot by themselves establish Dawood’s current location.
Yet one fact cannot be ignored—Clifton repeatedly appears in records from different periods.
This is why the re-emergence of Clifton in the Delhi Police investigation of 2026 assumes particular significance in this investigation.
DE-CODE FILES
Dawood Ibrahim’s Hideouts Changed After Operation Sindoor
According to officials familiar with the investigation:
His locations were being changed repeatedly. Following advice from the Pakistani government, Dawood was reportedly not kept at any single location for more than three or four days.
A trail of D-Company operations from Karachi; a Tehelka investigation based on intelligence inputs and documentary scans suggesting that Dawood changed locations due to fears of surveillance by Indian agencies.
Dawood Ibrahim, the most-wanted criminal in connection with the Mumbai bomb blasts and an underworld don, has remained on the radar of Indian security agencies and several investigative agencies around the world for the past three decades.
But the question most frequently asked about him remains the same:
Where exactly is he?
Reports of his shifting locations—from Mumbai to Dubai and then Karachi—have continued to surface.
Yet independently establishing his presence at any particular location at any given point in time has always been difficult.
Now, in 2026, an investigation by the Delhi Police into a terrorist module has once again brought this old question to the fore.
This time, the issue is not merely Dawood’s whereabouts. The links emerging from the investigation point towards a possible connection between Karachi, former operators associated with D-Company and terrorist activities in India.
At the end of May 2026, the Delhi Police Special Cell busted a terrorist module and arrested eight people.
According to the police and officials familiar with the investigation, the module had links to Pakistan’s intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and Dawood Ibrahim’s network.
The investigation also alleged plans for possible attacks in Delhi and Mumbai.
As questioning progressed, the name of Syed Mudassar Hussain alias Munna Jhingada, regarded as a former close associate of Dawood, emerged.
Read: Inset | Munna Jhingada: Mumbai Shooter, Karachi Operator?
This is where the most important thread of the story emerges—Dawood’s several hideouts in Karachi.
According to an official familiar with the investigation, Dawood is said to have five locations in Karachi.
These include an area in the Defence Housing Authority (DHA), Noorabad and 617 C.P. Berar Society.
But an important aspect of this claim is that the complete addresses of these five locations have not been made public in the 2026 intelligence inputs.
Therefore, it would not be correct to assume that all five addresses have been independently verified in 2026.
Matching these locations with old international records provides a more detailed picture.
Records of the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) list six addresses linked to Dawood Ibrahim. Four are in Karachi, while one each is in Dubai and Mumbai.
The United Nations Security Council records, meanwhile, list three addresses in Karachi: the White House in Clifton, House No. 37 in DHA and a luxurious bungalow in Noorabad.
Our investigation identifies the following major addresses associated with Dawood:
617, C.P. Berar Society, Blocks 7-8, Karachi — OFAC record.
37, Street 30, Phase-5, Defence Housing Authority (DHA), Karachi — OFAC and UN records.
10, Hill Top Arcade, Defence Housing Authority (DHA), Karachi — OFAC record.
Moin Palace, second floor, Karachi — OFAC record.
White House, near Saudi Mosque, Karachi — UN record.
A luxurious bungalow in the hilly area of Noorabad, Karachi — UN record.
The official 2006 OFAC record lists 617 C.P. Berar Society, House No. 37, the White House in Dubai, House No. 10 and Moin Palace.
These entries also remain in the current OFAC sanctions records.
However, the inclusion of an address on a sanctions list does not establish that the individual concerned is still living at that address.
These are identification and sanctions-related records from different periods.
Therefore, in the 2026 investigation, the arrested accused reportedly had conversations with a key associate based in Pakistan.
It was in this connection that the name of Munna Jhingada emerged.
The investigation claimed that links relating to setting up a module in India and coordinating weapons and other activities extended towards the Karachi area.
On this basis, investigating agencies are looking at Karachi as an area associated with Dawood’s alleged safe locations and the operation of his network.
After Operation Sindoor
Another piece of information linked to the same investigation takes the story in a different direction.
According to an intelligence official, after Operation Sindoor, Dawood was moved for some time from his reported main hideout to locations among the five places identified in Karachi.
The claim is that the move was prompted by fears of Indian military action and surveillance by Indian agencies.
For now, this should be treated cautiously as an intelligence assessment and as a claim made by officials associated with the investigation.
If the assessment proves correct, changes in Dawood’s security arrangements and possible locations after Operation Sindoor would indicate the pressure created by surveillance from Indian agencies.
At the same time, his alleged return to Clifton has to be read alongside the claims in the 2026 Delhi Police investigation regarding network activity linked to the same area.
Munna Jhingada’s name becomes important in the Delhi Police investigation because he has long been associated with Dawood and the D-Company network.
His name resurfacing in the 2026 investigation provides a basis for examining the current role of former operators associated with D-Company.
Here, it is important to maintain a distinction between police allegations and facts established judicially.
Different Names on Passports, One Identity?
An important documentary layer concerning Dawood Ibrahim’s presence in Pakistan relates to his names and passports.
The United Nations Security Council sanctions list records several aliases alongside Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar and lists Pakistani passports associated with his name.
These include G-866537, reportedly issued in Rawalpindi on August 12, 1991; C-267185, issued in Karachi in July 1996; H-123259, issued in Rawalpindi in July 2001; G-869537, reportedly issued in Rawalpindi; and KC-285901.
The UN record also lists A-717288 as a passport issued in Dubai on August 18, 1985, with the word ‘MISUSE’ appearing against it.
Reports based on dossiers of Indian security agencies provide additional information about the names used with these passports.
For instance, G-866537 has been reported as a Pakistani passport issued in the name of Sheikh Hasan, while C-267185 was reportedly issued in the name of Sheikh Dawood Hasan.
KC-285901, meanwhile, was reportedly issued in the name of Sheikh Dawood Hasan, son of Sheikh Ibrahim, and carried the Karachi address 17 C.P. Berar Society, Blocks 7-8, Amir Khan Road, Karachi.
This is where an important aspect of the record emerges: the identity of what appears to be the same individual is reflected through different names and different Pakistani passports.
This, by itself, is not proof of Dawood’s current citizenship or current residence.
But it does reveal the complexity of the documentary records associated with his identity.
There is also a documentary discrepancy here.
Reports published citing Indian security-agency dossiers associate passport KC-285901 with the address 17 C.P. Berar Society, Blocks 7-8, Amir Khan Road, while the US sanctions record lists 617 C.P. Berar Society, Blocks 7-8.
The two records share Blocks 7-8 and Karachi, but the house numbers are different.
Read: Inset | Address Forensics: 17 C.P. or 617 C.P.?
Drugs and Money: The New Economic Face of D-Company
In April 2026, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) brought Mohammad Salim Dola back to India from Türkiye.
According to official information from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Dola was wanted on the basis of an Interpol Red Notice and faced several cases related to drug trafficking.
According to the NCB, he had built an international drug-trafficking network extending across the Middle East, Africa and Europe, and his name had surfaced in several major drug seizures in India.
Indian agencies and several credible reports have described Dola as a close associate of Dawood.
However, the relationship between Dola and Dawood needs to be separately examined against the documents available to our investigation.
Tehelka Explainer: Where Is the Real Network—from Dubai to Karachi?
Karachi is the city most frequently mentioned in the story of Dawood Ibrahim.
But Dubai cannot be ignored when trying to understand the international journey of D-Company.
The reason is not merely old media reports but also US sanctions records.
The 2006 OFAC record lists an address in Dawood’s name—White House, Al Wasl Road, Jumeirah, Dubai—along with UAE passport number A-717288, reportedly issued in Dubai on August 18, 1985.
The same record listed D-Company as an organisation associated with India, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.
The 33-Year-Old Court Record of the Dubai Connection
In May 2026, a special TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities) court in Jamnagar convicted 12 accused in the 1993 Gosabara arms-landing case.
According to the prosecution, during the initial stage of the conspiracy, the accused travelled to Dubai and were instructed from Dawood’s Dubai residence to go to Pakistan and obtain consignments of arms.
The weapons were subsequently brought by sea to the Gosabara coast of Gujarat.
According to prosecution records presented before the court, part of the material unloaded was taken to Surat, Valsad and Uttar Pradesh, while another consignment brought by sea went towards Maharashtra and was linked to the wider conspiracy behind the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts.
The Business Layer in Dubai
In a 1988 interview with a magazine, Dawood himself said that his companies in Dubai were involved in trading, garments and real estate and that he had a stake in a hotel operation.
He described these businesses as legitimate.
Reports from 2015, citing Indian intelligence inputs, identified several Dubai business interests allegedly linked to Dawood, including Oasis Oil & Lube LLC, Al Noor Diamond, Oasis Power LLC, Dolphin Construction and Moin Garments.
The same reports claimed that an associate named ‘Firoz’ looked after the companies, while a person named ‘Javed’ supervised real-estate properties.
These claims are important leads for investigating the Dubai business network.
What Do the Jeddah and Yemen Records Reveal?
Dawood’s documentary footprint in the Gulf is not limited to Dubai.
UN records list his Indian passport F-823692 as having been issued by the Indian Consulate in Jeddah on September 2, 1989.
The A-717288 passport, meanwhile, is listed as having been issued in Dubai.
US records also list F-823692 as a Yemen passport associated with Dawood’s name.
However, these entries do not establish the existence of an operational D-Company base in Saudi Arabia or Yemen.
The available official records also do not show a clear D-Company connection to Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait or Oman comparable to the Dubai connection.
In contrast, in 2015 the US Treasury described D-Company as a transnational crime syndicate active in India, Pakistan and the UAE.
Its activities were described as including drug trafficking, extortion, smuggling and contract killings.
The Dubai Model: The Old Network and the 2026 Money Trail
It is important now to match this old record with the 2026 investigation.
The ED investigation into Salim Dola examined a possible chain through which drug proceeds were allegedly moved using hawala, shell companies, foreign remittances, false billing and benami properties.
The June 2026 action took the investigation to suppliers of precursor chemicals, people involved in manufacturing and distributing mephedrone, hawala operators and benami properties.
Reporting has also referred to properties in Dubai allegedly linked to Dola.
The Chat, Bank Transactions and QR Code Trail
On June 3, 2026, a Thane court ordered that Huzaifa Farooq Ahmed Hashmi be handed over to the Delhi Police on transit remand until June 5.
Investigators had presented screenshots of chats and bank transactions before the court.
Investigating agencies alleged that Huzaifa was in contact with Pakistan-based operative Yawar Khan and was linked to Karachi-based Munna Jhingada.
On June 4, a Delhi court granted Huzaifa five days of police custody.
The police told the court that they needed to question him alongside other accused persons, and use him to gather information about the larger network.
According to the police, Huzaifa had sent a QR code to Pakistan and money had subsequently been credited to his account.
Drug Network: An Old Lead
Another name emerges in OSINT (Open Source Intelligence): Haji Salim.
A report based on an old intelligence assessment had claimed that Haji Salim had an office in Karachi and operated a drug network.
The same report also claimed that he had been seen at meetings related to the drug trade at a property associated with Dawood on Clifton Road.
Although recorded in an older assessment, this does not serve as direct evidence of operations carried out in 2026.
But the claim recorded in the old intelligence assessment is important to this investigation because Karachi appears in a context that goes beyond a residential address and connects it to a drug network.
This investigation has brought together several links from different periods and different sources:
Karachi addresses
Passport records associated with Dawood
Munna Jhingada and alleged Pakistan-based operators
Chats and bank transactions presented before a court
The drug-trafficking and money-laundering investigation involving Salim Dola
None of these links, taken individually, can be treated as proof of the entire network.
But their documentary cross-matching points towards direct connections among them.
Munna Jhingada: Mumbai Shooter, Karachi Operator?
Munna Jhingada later joined Chhota Shakeel’s network and was accused in cases involving murder and contract killings.
His name also emerged in connection with the 2000 attack on Chhota Rajan in Bangkok.
He was subsequently arrested in Thailand and spent a long period in prison.
India attempted to secure his extradition, but the matter remained before Thai courts and he was ultimately not brought to India.
Information about Jhingada’s presence in Karachi emerged after 2019.
According to Indian investigative agencies, he lived there under the protection of the networks of Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel.
In 2026, his name surfaced again in the Delhi Police investigation.
According to the police, some of the arrested accused were in contact with Pakistan-based handlers, and the names of Munna Jhingada and Yawar Khan emerged in this connection.
The police alleged that these operators coordinated activities in India relating to weapons, recruitment and attacks.
Reports linked to the investigation also mention a safe house belonging to Jhingada in Karachi.
It was allegedly from this location that contact with operatives in India and coordination of activities took place.
The location has been described as being in the Karachi area and around premises reportedly associated with Dawood.
However, the complete address of this safe house has not been made public.
Address Forensics: 17 C.P. or 617 C.P.?
In the investigation into Dawood Ibrahim’s Karachi connection, a small discrepancy in an address has now turned into a larger documentary question.
On one side is information published citing Indian security-agency dossiers, which reportedly lists 17 C.P. Berar Society, Blocks 7-8, Amir Khan Road, Karachi, alongside Pakistani passport KC-285901.
The address is linked to Sheikh Dawood Hasan, son of Sheikh Ibrahim.
On the other side, OFAC records list 617 C.P. Berar Society, Blocks 7-8, Karachi.
The American record shows this address in the list dated June 1, 2006, and it also remains in the current record.
Both records have C.P. Berar Society, Blocks 7-8 and Karachi in common.
The only difference is the house number.
Available sources do not establish whether 17 and 617 are different records for the same property, two separate properties, or an error in recording the number in one of the records.
Therefore, it would be premature both to dismiss the discrepancy as a mere typing error and to assume that the two addresses refer to the same property.
Salim Dola and Dawood: Close Associate or a Separate Link in the Drug Network?
The name of Salim Ismail Dola did not suddenly emerge in 2026.
After being brought to India from Türkiye in April 2026, he became the focus of investigations by Indian agencies.
But his name had surfaced in several drug-trafficking cases even before that.
According to the NCB, several drug-trafficking cases had been registered against Dola in India and he had been absconding for years.
Indian investigative agencies and credible media reports have described him as a close associate of Dawood Ibrahim.
He was an accused in international drug trafficking and became the first major target of the NCB’s ‘Operation Global-Hunt’.
In the investigation of cases linked to Dola in Mumbai, agencies examined statements and contacts of people involved in the supply of narcotics.
In one case, citing the statement of accused Faisal Javed Sheikh, the NCB told the court that he used to purchase mephedrone from Dola.
According to court-related reports, the investigation also revealed WhatsApp contact between the two and delivery of drugs at designated locations.
This makes Dola’s role appear connected to a larger drug-supply network.
Where Is Dawood Today—and In What Condition?
The biggest question now is: where is Dawood currently, and what is his condition?
Tehelka’s Consulting Editor Sunil has sent a report from London in which he says that Dawood has established several hideouts in Karachi and that his location is changed every few days using an ambulance.
According to him, after Operation Sindoor, the Pakistani government does not allow Dawood to remain in one place.
Sunil has also said that the Pakistani government and the ISI remain on alert over the possibility of an attack on Dawood.
No electronic equipment is reportedly kept in the place where Dawood stays or in his room.
According to information from my Consulting Editor, Dawood’s health is in very poor condition.
Dawood is reportedly suffering from several ailments—diabetes, kidney problems, gangrene in his legs and heart disease have made his life extremely difficult.
Our colleague’s report also says that Dawood’s body is now no longer capable of movement.
He remains confined to his bed and requires assistance from associates for almost everything.
Dawood’s eyes reportedly remain fixed on the ceiling. He can now communicate only through gestures.
Recently, a team of doctors is also said to have discussed reports concerning Dawood’s illnesses.
His poor health has increased the difficulties for the Pakistani government and its intelligence establishment.
The fear, according to the report, is that news of Dawood’s death in Pakistan could reveal to the world that the fugitive had indeed been hiding in Pakistan.
