Ibrahim returned to the headlines of India's media in July when
his daughter married the son of a famous Pakistani cricket
player. An upscale wedding reception brazenly took place at the
ostensibly American-run Grand Hyatt hotel in Dubai on July 23.
Ibrahim, India's most wanted man for the 1993 Bombay bombings
that killed hundreds, and a U.S. Specially Designated Global
Terrorist, reportedly did not attend the event. One media
outlet mentioned, however, that Ibrahim, believed to be living
in Pakistan, traveled on forged documents to witness the nikah
(wedding) ceremony of the couple on July 9 in Mecca. The
wedding and subsequent reception generated intense interest in
the Indian media, which reported that Indian police and security
services were shadowing business, entertainment and underworld
figures from India who might try to attend the reception. In
the end, no prominent Indians actually showed up in Dubai. The
manner in which Ibrahim could so blatantly stage such an event
has infuriated our Indian contacts.
¶3. (C) ACTION REQUEST: Since Ibrahim has been a topic of
effective US/India CT cooperation, we believe the USG should
send a strong signal of solidarity and zero tolerance by
generating a demarche asking the Grand Hyatt, per E.O. 13224,
where the money for the reception came from, and how, and why
they chose to associate an American brand so shamefully with an
Indian terrorist. We should also publicize the fact that we are
making such an inquiry. End Summary and Action Request.
¶4. (C) Dawood Ibrahim was the undisputed kingpin of the Mumbai
underworld before he fled India in the 1980s. Indian security
agencies believe he was involved in the 1993 Mumbai bombings
that killed several hundred people. In 2003, the Department of
Treasury designated Ibrahim as a Specially Designated Global
Terrorist under E.O. 13224. The Indian media is never short of
speculation and rumors about his whereabouts and his continued
involvement in the Indian underworld. In India, it is widely
believed that Ibrahim is living in Karachi, Pakistan, from where
he runs his underworld empire. Late last year, however, one
Indian newspaper reported that Ibrahim, fearing that his
Pakistani protectors might hand him over to the U.S., was
actively seeking a new hiding spot in an unnamed third country.
The press has also reported that Ibrahim underwent plastic
surgery to change his appearance and that he regularly travels
outside of Pakistan on forged documents. "Ibrahim knows where he
is, but I'm not sure if anyone else does," was all that Police
Commissioner Roy was willing to tell us on the margins of an
event in July.
Ibrahim's Daughter Weds in Dubai
--------------------------
¶5. (SBU) In July Ibrahim's daughter married the son of Pakistan
cricket legend Javed Miandad. The couple had reportedly met
while they both were studying in London. A reception attended
by about 250 people was held on July 23 at the Grand Hyatt hotel
in Dubai, UAE. A sizeable media contingent from India staked
out the hotel, but was prevented by the organizers and their
tough private security firms from filming the event or even
getting close to the hotel ballroom where it took place.
Ibrahim reportedly did not attend, although the India media
alleged that he watched via an online connection from his
supposed hideout in Pakistan. Any public appearance would have
likely led to his immediate arrest, since Interpol had earlier
issued a "red corner" notice against him. A second reception
was scheduled for August 4 in Karachi, where the bridegroom's
family also lives.
Was Ibrahim in Mecca for Nikah?
--------------------------
¶6. (SBU) After the Dubai reception, the Times of India reported
that Ibrahim had earlier traveled incognito to Mecca for the
July 9 nikah, the solemnization of the marriage. The newspaper
claimed that Ibrahim entered Saudi Arabia with a false identity
and a Pakistani passport. The media speculated that Ibrahim
purposely fueled the media hype about his attendance in the
Dubai reception in order to draw attention away from the more
important objective of attending the nikah in Mecca. Indian
police officials have remained tight-lipped about the
newspaper's report, and like so much of the media coverae of
Ibrahim, the Times did not follow up and th story was dropped
quickly.
Police, Intellience Services Shadow Potential Guests
--------------------------
¶7. SBU) Many of Ibrahim's family and former associates still
live in Mumbai. It is widely acknowledged that he and his
network continue to be a dominant force in the city's
underworld. In the weeks prior to the Dubai reception, the
Indian police and intelligence services reportedly monitored the
movements and tapped the phones of many of Ibrahim's supposed
contacts in the Indian underworld and in the business and
entertainment sectors. The authorities hoped that the
monitoring would reveal information about the wedding planning
or even Ibrahim's whereabouts. None of the better-known names
went to Dubai, however, possibly out of fear of being too
closely identified with Ibrahim in public. Two of Ibrahim's
associates were also arrested in Mumbai after a local
businessman told the police that they had tried to extort money
from him to finance the Dubai reception.
Murky Arrest in Delhi: Is There an Ibrahim Connection?
--------------------------
¶8. (SBU) The media quickly linked the murky arrest of several
alleged underworld figures in New Delhi on July 11 to Ibrahim
and the wedding. Subsequently, however, it became unclear how,
if at all, the arrests were tied to Ibrahim. In early July a
group of Mumbai policemen traveled to Delhi to stake out Vicky
Malhotra, an underworld figure who had been charged with
numerous crimes, including murder, extortion and arms smuggling.
On July 11 the Mumbai police arrested Malhotra while he was
driving through central Delhi. Accompanying Malhotra was Ajit
Kumar Doval, former head of the Indian Intelligence Bureau (IB).
Doval was allowed to go free, whereas Malhotra and two
associates who were picked up later were taken to Mumbai where
they now face criminal charges. Doval himself as well as GOI
officials from the Home Ministry later declined to comment about
the incident.
¶9. (SBU) Thereafter the Indian media was rife with speculation
about why the former head of India's premier intelligence
service was caught with a known underworld figure. As is often
the case on media coverage of the underworld, Ibrahim was
quickly assumed to have had a hand in the incident. Malhotra is
the right hand man of gangster Chhota Rajan, a fierce rival of
Ibrahim. Rajan was once Ibrahim's lieutenant, but broke up with
Ibrahim after the 1993 Mumbai bombings. The two have reportedly
been fierce rivals since. Communal tensions between Ibrahim, a
Muslim, and Rajan, a Hindu, were also believed to have
contributed to the breakup. Rajan reportedly objected to the
bomb attacks, which were part of a chain of violent retributions
surrounding right-wing Hindus' destruction of the Babri Masjid
mosque in 1992. Rajan was thought to be living somewhere in
Southeast Asia, but recent press reports claim that is now
hiding in Europe. He and Malhotra are believed to have been
responsible for the targeted killing of a number of Ibrahim's
associates.
¶10. (C) The media originally speculated that the IB wanted to
use Malhotra to target and kill Ibrahim if he traveled to Dubai
to attend the reception. According to this theory, Doval acted
as the conduit between the IB and Malhotra. The Mumbai police
were either unaware that the IB was collaborating with Rajan,
and surprised the IB operation with its own sting, or,
plausibly, some even speculated that Ibrahim was aware of the
IB/Rajan plot against him and had tipped off the Mumbai police,
many of whom work directly or indirectly for him.
¶11. (SBU) The GOI and the Mumbai police have not commented on
the incident. The arrests and the presence of former IB chief
Doval are established facts. Since the authorities are not
publicly talking, everything else about the incident is
speculation of media outlets, which have given much
contradictory information in their reporting as the story
unfolded. For example, several newspapers originally reported
that the Delhi police were unaware of the Mumbai police presence
in their district. Later, however, the same papers wrote that
the Delhi and Mumbai police had in fact worked together to
apprehend Malhotra.
Continued Mumbai Police Links With Ibrahim
--------------------------
¶12. (SBU) In the days following the arrest Mumbai Police
Commissioner A.N. Roy fired senior police inspector Aslam Momin.
Roy said wiretapping had revealed that Momin had links with
Ibrahim and Ibrahim's two brothers. The media immediately
speculated that Ibrahim had used Momin to tip off the Mumbai
police to arrest gangster Malhotra in Delhi, thus foiling the
IS/Malhotra plot against him, Ibrahim. One paper quoted unnamed
IS officials as saying the service was irate that the Delhi
incident became public. Suspecting that Momin may have been the
leak, the IS gave the Mumbai police evidence documenting Momin's
underworld connections. Police officials did not comment on the
rumors. (Note: Momin was a so-called "encounter specialist," a
euphemism for a police hit man who carries out extra-judicial
killings of highly sought after underworld figures. There is no
legal basis for such killings, which are executed under the
guise of a shootout where the involved police officers claim
they act in self-defense. The publicly acknowledged link
between a police hit man and Ibrahim highlighted the well-known
interaction between police and the underworld. Human rights
groups have long argued that police hit men often have close
ties with the underworld figures they are supposed to target.
The hit men spare their intended victims in return for bribes,
it is argued, or they take bribes from one gang to knock off
rivals from another gang. Read Sukethu Mehta's book "Maximum
City" for more details on "encounters," Dawood, the police, and
the Mumbai underworld. End note)
Comment and Action Request
--------------------------
¶13. (C) If the Mumbai police know the whereabouts of Ibrahim,
they are not talking. Although most of the intense media
interest in Ibrahim is speculation, Ibrahim continues to cast a
broad and sinister web of influence in India. It is also an
established fact that his daughter was the focus of an upscale
wedding reception in Dubai on July 23 at a hotel carrying a
famous American brand name. We find the hotel's judgment
lacking, and its corporate parent ought to be asking some
questions of its franchise in Dubai.
¶14. (C) Action Request: Ibrahim has been a topic of effective
US/India CT cooperation, and our October 2003 listing of him as
a specially designated terrorist was a turning point in our
bilateral dialogue on the issue. Embassy New Delhi reports that
Ibrahim's staging of his daughter's reception is such an open
manner is a serious concern to the GOI. Our Indian contacts are
perplexed and angry at how Ibrahim could brazenly host such an
event. We believe the USG should send a strong signal of
solidarity and zero tolerance by generating a demarche asking
the Grand Hyatt in Dubai where the money came from, and how. We
should also ask the Hyatt corporation in the U.S. how their
local franchise could have made such a questionable decision.
Such a demarche should make the Hyatt chain, which is viewed
here as an "American" company, explain why they took money for a
wedding that was likely paid for -- directly or indirectly -- by
the most wanted man in India, a man who is also on the US
government's list of foreign terrorist entities. If Washington
concurs, we suggest that we also inform the Indian and UAE
governments (in Dubai and Abu Dhabi) of our approach to the
Dubai Grand Hyatt.
¶15. (C) This action request was formulated jointly with Embassy
New Delhi, which strongly endorses this request.
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