Will Dawood Ibrahim save Pakistan Railways?

Mumbai: India's most wanted gangster Dawood Ibrahim's henchmen in the city are bragging that the don has been approached to bail out Pakistan Railways, which is facing a serious financial crunch.

The buzz among underworld sources are that some Pakistani politicians and senior Inter-Services Intelligence officers (ISI) have asked Dawood to divert money to the smooth functioning of the railways.

The request to Dawood comes at a time when over 20-odd freight trains with loaded goods ran out of fuel in his backyard in Karachi, the hotbed of crime in Pakistan.

Large number of trains are also stranded at stations including Sukkur, Multan and Lahore, sources in Mumbai informed.

According to sources, the slowdown (confirmed by a Pakistani paper 30 freight trains with 4,085 rakes loaded with goods are stranded across Pakistan) has also affected Dawood's business as many believe that the goods on the stranded trains belong to his front companies.

D's big bucks

Investigations by Mumbai's police and central intelligence agencies have indicated that gangster Dawood invested heavily in the Karachi stock market.

Investment to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore has gone into construction companies, shopping malls, cement companies and an oil company in the Gulf.

Initial investigations indicate the investment could be in the region of Rs 1,000 crore. "Karachi's stock market will collapse if Dawood withdraws his investments from there.

He is probably one of the largest players in Pakistan's economy," said a senior police officer.

Police officials said that while construction and investments in malls could be a good cover up, most of Pakistan's economy revolves around heroin trade, fake currency and arms supply controlled by Dawood's younger brother Anees.

"Some of the front companies already pay money to several ministers and ISI personnel to shield them and provide them with security cover," said a source.

Dawood in BSE

The Indian intelligence agencies are already probing into the possibility of Dawood's investments in Mumbai's stock exchange.

The government is working on a specific report that terrorists have invested in Indian stock markets.

Dawood's business associates in Mumbai said the don could be approached by the Pakistani authorities because of his proximity to several business magnets, especially Sheikhs, in the oil-rich Gulf countries.