In Pakistan, Miandad, whose son is married to Dawood's daughter, seemed perturbed by the recent reports of the don's capture.
MUMBAI: Either he is injured or has been taken into custody. At any rate, going by media reports all's not well with Dawood Ibrahim. But his relatives, in Mumbai and in Pakistan, are at pains to explain that the don is safe and well.
“Woh khairiat se hain, jahan bhi hain (He is well, where ever he is),” said Javed Miandad, a former captain of the Pakistan cricket team and Dawood's relative. He emphasised that Dawood was not in Pakistan: “Woh yahan nahi hain, lekin jahan bhi hain theek thaak hain (He isn't here, but he is fit and fine).”
Miandad's assertions came amid reports that Dawood had been taken into custody by Pakistani authorities.
In Mumbai, Dawood's brother-in-law Saudbhai proferred similar views when DNA visited his Kapad Bazaar home. “Dawood Ibrahim is in good health and all this talk about him being shot are rumours spread by the media,” Saudbhai, who is married to one of Ibrahim's sisters, said. “If any agency, even the ISI, had taken him into custody there would have been matam (mourning) on the streets by now.”
Sources close to Dawood's sister, Haseena Parker, also said there was no anxiety at the family home. “Allah is there. He will look after my brother,” sources quoted Haseena as saying.
An intelligence official in Mumbai said Dawood had secured the best protection money can buy. “He has employed some bodyguards from West Asia who are known for their ferocious loyalty,” the official said.
In Pakistan, Miandad, whose son is married to Dawood's daughter, seemed perturbed by the recent reports of the don's capture, being played prominently across the Indian media. “I cannot understand why people are questioning me,” Miandad said. “I am related to him and not to his business or to his deeds. Please try to understand that.”
Miandad's ties with Dawood, which flourished during the One-day Internationals in Sharjah, goes back some 20 years. During his visits to London, Dawood had Miandad as his chaperon and chauffeur; the gangster cannot drive.
The Ibrahims and the Miandads enjoyed holidays together and the friendship was sealed into a formal relationship
when the children of the two men married.
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