By Robert Windrem and Aram Roston, NBC News
Some U.S. and Indian counter-terrorism officials are asking if India’s most notorious reputed mobster -- thought to run a worldwide crime ring -- had a hand in the slaughter that devastated Mumbai last week.
His name is Dawood Ibrahim, a flashy gangster with alleged ties to contract hits, narcotics, gambling and even the film industry. Even more significantly, though, may be his alleged ties to al-Qaida and the terrorist group that's leading the list of suspects.
Ibrahim's international crime ring has been dubbed the "D-Gang" by the Indian press. In Mumbai, police have said for years that political and religious terrorism have been interwoven with crimes such as drugs, prostitution, gambling and contract hits. Indian newspapers ascribe legendary feats of criminality to the group.
Marie-Lou Fernandes was a Mumbai Deputy Police Commissioner until 2005, and tells NBC News that Dawood Ibrahim may not have been the instigator, but must have helped.
Although there's no evidence he was involved, Fernandes said," It appears to me there is only one person who could orchestrate that: Dawood Ibrahim. Everything is pointing to Dawood Ibrahim. He has the expertise and the resources."
Fernandes says she knew many of the officers killed in the attacks and lauds their performance. She said that Ibrahim is a likely participant. "Only an operative like Dawood would have been able to carry it out," Fernandes repeated.
Ibrahim, called a "crime lord" by the U.S. government, has been a fugitive for well over a decade. He was accused of orchestrating the 1993 bombings in Mumbai, which killed more than 250 people. In that case, munitions for the attack were allegedly infiltrated into the city after they were brought in by boat to the coast by Dawood Ibrahim's men. There have been numerous criminal convictions in the case. Ibrahim was charged, but never brought to trial, because police could never catch him.
There may be similarities in that operation, since Indian reports say the terrorist gunmen arrived by boat as well. "The sea route," says Fernandes of Ibrahim, "is important to his narcotics trade."
In 2003, the U.S. government made it clear that Ibrahim was not just an Indian problem, when the U.S. Treasury Department designated him a "terrorist" under an executive order. The Treasury Department called him "one of the pre-eminent criminals in the Indian underworld," and said Ibrahim's "smuggling routes from South Asia, the Middle East and Africa are shared with Usama bin Laden and his terrorist network."
The U.S. and Indian government also say Ibrahim has financed the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, the Pakistani-based terror group that is thought to be behind the recent Mumbai attacks.
India has not officially named Ibrahim as a suspect in the Mumbai attacks but he is on the list of 20 people the Indian government is now demanding that Pakistan turn over. The Indians have said Ibrahim has been based in Karachi for years, which the Pakistanis have consistently denied. When it designated Ibrahim as a terrorist, the Treasury Department listed his residence as Karachi, which Indian officials saw as a victory in their efforts to tie Ibrahim to the Pakistani government.
Usual Suspect
Still, it is not clear that there is any evidence implicating him in the Mumbai attacks. As one former CIA official put it, "he’s a usual suspect." But the terrorists, he adds, "had logistical support from somebody."
In other related news, a senior U.S. counter terrorism official confirmed to NBC News that Indian authorities have found the names of several high-ranking members of the Pakistani-based terrorist group, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, in the satellite phone used by one those who carried out the attacks in Mumbai. Moreover, there is evidence that calls were placed to some of the Lashkar leaders from the satellite phone.
Among those on the list: Yusuf Muzammil, head of Lashkar's operations unit. A U.S. intelligence official said that while it is possible that the attacks in Mumbai were "not necessarily a top-down operation," there are strong indications this was a Lashkar operation. The official noted that the sole terrorist captured after the attacks had confessed to a Lashkar connection.
"Lashkar has some explaining to do," added the official. Pakistani officials are reluctant to confirm that Lashkar controlled the operation, suggesting it could be rogue operation from within Lashkar. Pakistani officials note that the organization has more than 5,000 members.
Just today, in an interview with NBC News terrorism analyst Evan Kohlmann, Lashkar officials in Pakistan denied any involvement in the Mumbai attacks.
