Police ‘Accidentally’ Created a ‘Frankenstein’: Ex-Top Cop Rakesh Maria’s Shocking Dawood Ibrahim Revelation as D-Company Endures at 69
The Ghost of Dongri: Dawood Ibrahim and the Enduring Nexus of Crime and Statecraft
As India’s most wanted man, Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, approaches his 70th year, his continued freedom remains a gaping wound in the national security narrative. The fugitive underworld don, who masterminded the 1993 Bombay bombings, is not merely a figure of history; he is a persistent, evolving threat whose transnational crime syndicate, the D-Company, continues to operate with chilling efficacy across the globe. This reality has been thrown into stark relief by recent developments, including the dismantling of a massive drug network and, more significantly, the shocking historical revelations by a former Mumbai Police Commissioner.
The latest insights come from former Mumbai police commissioner Rakesh Maria, who, speaking at a literary festival in mid-December 2025, provided a deeply unsettling perspective on the very genesis of the D-Company’s power. His account suggests that far from merely failing to stop him, certain law enforcement strategies in the 1970s and 80s may have inadvertently laid the foundation for Dawood’s monstrous rise.
The ‘Frankenstein’ Strategy: A Police Miscalculation
Rakesh Maria’s commentary—timed just as Dawood is noted for turning 69 this December—shreds the popular perception of Dawood Ibrahim’s rise as a purely organic criminal phenomenon. According to Maria, the Mumbai police initially viewed the young Dawood as a potential asset—a ‘smaller one’ to manage and gather intelligence on the ‘big fish’ in the pond, namely the existing Pathan gangs.
“Police believed Dawood could be controlled,” Maria revealed. “Instead, he turned into a Frankenstein.” This strategic misstep, aiming to control the city’s crime landscape, resulted in the police inadvertently nurturing the very force that would later hold India’s financial capital hostage. Instead of a controlled asset, Dawood became a ‘voracious predator.’
Maria further detailed the chilling precision of D-Company’s operations, particularly its contract killings, which were anything but impulsive. He stressed that hits are the result of “extraordinary patience and meticulous planning,” involving months of surveillance, profiling, and identifying the target’s most vulnerable moments.
Crucially, the former top cop pointed to specific, bloody milestones that cemented Dawood’s dominance. He asserted that the subsequent elimination of Pathan gang members like Abdul Samad Khan and Hamid fundamentally altered the underworld’s balance of power. “If Samad Khan and Hamid were alive, Dawood Ibrahim would never have risen the way he did. They terrified him,” Maria stated, underscoring that their removal paved the way for Dawood’s emergence as the city’s most powerful crime boss. This is a powerful, timely reminder that the D-Company’s legacy is rooted not just in terror, but in the calculated dismantling of its competition, a process the authorities were either unable to stop or, by Maria’s account, initially underestimated.
The Enduring Shadow: D-Company’s Transnational Drug Nexus
While the Maria revelations shed new light on the past, parallel reports confirm that the D-Company remains frighteningly active in the present, adapting its illicit trade to modern global logistics. Recent police action in India highlighted the persistence of the D-Company’s drug trafficking operation, a key component of its funding and influence.
The Mumbai Crime Branch, in a significant victory, recently announced the busting of a major drug racket described as directly linked to Dawood’s network. This breakthrough involved the arrest of a key aide of trafficker Salim Dola, who was deported from Dubai. The investigation exposed a vast mephedrone manufacturing and distribution chain that spanned from Maharashtra right across to Dubai, underscoring the syndicate’s international reach and sophisticated network.
This incident is a sobering reminder that the D-Company is not a defunct historical relic. It is a modern, transnational criminal enterprise, leveraging its networks in the UAE and Pakistan to run everything from drug trafficking to extortion, with its ill-gotten wealth consistently finding its way back into legitimate-looking assets in India. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has continued to attach properties linked to the syndicate, including those of Dawood’s brother, Iqbal Kaskar, further highlighting the ongoing legal battle to cripple the D-Company’s financial backbone.
Furthermore, the network continues to use fear and intimidation as primary tools. In a high-profile incident from earlier in 2025, a former NCP MLA, Zeeshan Siddique, received death threats via email from the Dawood Ibrahim gang, demanding a protection sum of ₹10 crore, a stark demonstration that the gang’s tentacles still reach deep into Mumbai’s political and business spheres.
The Diplomatic Deadlock: Evasion and Endurance at 69
As Dawood Ibrahim enters his 70th year, his story becomes less about his criminal acts and more about his political and diplomatic endurance. Designated a “Global Terrorist” by both India and the United States, with a $25 million bounty on his head, his location is now a matter of international stalemate.
All credible intelligence points to his long-standing residence in Karachi, Pakistan, where he reportedly resides under alleged state patronage. This claim, consistently denied by Pakistani authorities, despite a momentary lapse in 2020 when the government listed him on a sanctions list (in an effort to avoid FATF sanctions), highlights the fundamental diplomatic challenge.
The recent spate of unconfirmed, but sensational, rumors about his health, including a reported poisoning incident in late 2023 that momentarily gripped Indian media, only underscores the mystery and obsession surrounding the man. Though the reports were never confirmed, they highlight the psychological impact of his prolonged evasion.
Dawood’s ability to remain at large, protected and powerful for decades, makes his approaching 70th birthday less a personal milestone and more a symbol of the profound challenges faced by global law enforcement in combating transnational terrorism and organized crime protected by state actors. The new revelations from Rakesh Maria and the constant stream of arrests and network busts confirm two realities: that the origins of the D-Company’s power were complex and possibly aided by misjudged state actions, and that the organization’s current threat level is not diminishing, but merely changing form.
The manhunt for Dawood Ibrahim continues, fueled by a desire for justice and a determination to dismantle the D-Company, but as the former police commissioner’s words remind us, his shadow runs deeper than simple criminal history—it runs into the very fabric of Indian law enforcement history and the murky world of international political protection.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1: What is the most recent significant news about Dawood Ibrahim?
The most recent significant news involves the revelations from former Mumbai police commissioner Rakesh Maria in December 2025. Maria revealed that police had initially intended to use Dawood as a ‘smaller fish’ to control other gangs, but he instead grew into a ‘Frankenstein.’ Additionally, the Mumbai Crime Branch recently busted a major, sophisticated mephedrone drug racket linked to the D-Company, confirming the network’s ongoing transnational operations.
Q2: Where is Dawood Ibrahim believed to be located?
Dawood Ibrahim is widely believed to be residing in Karachi, Pakistan, a claim that the government of Pakistan officially denies. His location has been frequently traced to Karachi by Indian intelligence agencies.
Q3: What is D-Company?
D-Company is the massive Indian organised crime syndicate founded and reportedly headed by Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar since the 1970s. It is involved in a wide array of criminal activities, including murder, extortion, drug trafficking, and terrorism, notably masterminding the 1993 Bombay bombings.
Q4: Has Dawood Ibrahim been designated a terrorist?
Yes. Both the Indian government and the United States government designated Dawood Ibrahim as a “Global Terrorist” in 2003. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has previously named him as one of the world’s most wanted fugitives, and a reward of US$25 million is on his head.
Q5: What was the significance of the 1993 Bombay bombings?
The 1993 Bombay bombings, masterminded by Dawood Ibrahim’s D-Company, were a series of coordinated terrorist attacks that killed over 250 people. This act cemented Ibrahim’s reputation as a global threat and was reportedly carried out as retaliation for the demolition of the Babri Masjid.
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