US embassy cable - 05MUMBAI1682

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 MUMBAI 001682 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS, S/CT AND EB/ESC/TFS 
NSC FOR PATRICK HEFFERNAN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  8/8/2015 
TAGS: PTER, EFIN, PGOV, PREL, KCRM, SA, PK, AE, IN, Counter-Terrorism 
SUBJECT: TERRORIST DAWOOD IBRAHIM HAUNTS INDIA FROM AFAR AS DAUGHTER 
WEDS IN AN AMERICAN-BRANDED HOTEL 
 
Summary and Action Request 
-------------------------- 
 
1. (U) This is an Action Request.  See paragraph 13. 
 
2. (C) Like a bad dream, terrorist and underworld figure Dawood 
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. 
 
Where in the world is Dawood Ibrahim? 
------------------------------------- 
 
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. End comment and 
action request.