Is dreaded underworld don Dawood Ibrahim critically ill?

Dawood Ibrahim

Dawood Ibrahim

Dawood Ibrahim, notorious underworld don and mastermind behind the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts has allegedly suffered a heart attack and is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. While reports are still unconfirmed he is said to be on ventilator support.

Also read: The many mysteries surrounding underworld don Dawood Ibrahim

Other reports have claimed that Dawood Ibrahim was hospitalised after suffering a paralytic stroke.

News reports regarding the 61-year-old gangster's ill health have been doing the rounds since Friday.

Refuting these rumours, Dawood Ibrahim's long-time friend and close aide Chhota Shakeel has asserted that he is not gravely ill but is hale and hearty. Shakeel is a key aide and lieutenant of Dawood Ibrahim and has been identified along with Anees Ibrahim as Dawood's likely successor upon his rumored retirement.

Chhota Shakeel

Some sources say that Dawood Ibrahim has been suffering from gangrene of limbs and has been frequently hospitalised as a result of this for treatment.

Also read: Dawood Ibrahim's childhood locality Dongri is Mumbai's new drug capital

Dawood Ibrahim is believed to be living in Pakistan, with his family and some close aides, although Pakistani authorities have denied his existence in the country.

The apparent head of the Indian crime syndicate D-Company, which was founded in Mumbai, Dawood Ibrahim is currently on the wanted list of Interpol for cheating, criminal conspiracy and running an organised crime syndicate. Ibrahim was also number three on the The World's 10 Most Wanted.

In October 2003, the US Treasury Department named Dawood Ibrahim as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and in June 2006, the United States named both Dawood Ibrahim and D Company as Significant Foreign Narcotics Traffickers pursuant to the Kingpin Act.