Dawood fled India before 2003: India fact-checks UN special Special Rapporteur

India's First Secretary to the UN, Raghoo Puri, said fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim had fled India before being listed by the UN for links to Al-Qaeda, and remains wanted for terror attacks since 1993. He made the remarks while criticising a UN Special Rapporteur's report for factual inaccuracies.

India's First Secretary to the UN, Raghoo Puri, criticised factual inaccuracies in a report by Ben Saul, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms while Countering Terrorism, while raising the issue of fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's links to Al-Qaeda.

Puri said fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim had fled India before being listed by the UN for links to Al-Qaeda and remains wanted for terror attacks since 1993.

Speaking during an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur (SR) on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism at the UN General Assembly's (UNGA) Third Committee, Puri said, "This organisation [D Company] and its listed leader, Dawood Ibrahim, has been wanted in India for terror attacks since 1993."

"This individual fled India much before the 2003 listing, and it was during this period, from outside our country, that he was listed for being associated with Al-Qaeda and with Osama bin Laden," he said. Puri added that Dawood remained a wanted criminal in India and, according to the UN listing entry, resided in the same country where Osama bin Laden was found and neutralised, hinting at Pakistan.

The Indian delegate also criticised factual inaccuracies in the Special Rapporteur's reports, saying that member states were being presented with a "fait accompli". He further rejected Pakistan's remarks on Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, calling them "pure propaganda made for very narrow political gains". The remarks were shared by India at the UN, New York, on X.