Dawood Ibrahim’s surrender offer rejected

India’s most wanted fugitive Dawood Ibrahim offered to surrender to the authorities in Maharashtra state in the 1990s but his conditions were deemed unacceptable, a former state functionary said late Saturday.

Former Maharashtra chief minister Sharad Pawar confirmed to the media that he was approached by a senior lawyer over Ibrahim’s willingness to surrender to the Indian authorities.

The offer was made through renowned lawyer Ram Jethmalani.

The veteran leader, who served as the chief minister in 1990s when the offer was made, said “It is true that Jethmalani had given a proposal about Dawood’s willingness to return to India. But there was a condition that Dawood should not be kept in jail. Rather he should be allowed to remain in a house. This was not acceptable. We said he had to face the law.”

Ibrahim is on India’s most wanted list for the 1993 blasts that rattled Mumbai --India’s financial capital and killed 300 people.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 6^th, 2015.