Indian agencies have discovered that Haji Salim, a gangster based in Karachi, is connected to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and playing a key role in effort to revive the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) insurgent group in Sri Lanka and India through extensive drug and weapon smuggling, people familiar with the development said.
With the active support of the Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan's spy agency, they claimed Salim, who is thought to be the brains behind a multimillion dollar drug network in Pakistan and the Indian Ocean, has frequently been spotted at Dawood's Clifton Road residence in Karachi. It is suspected they both use each other's resources for smuggling.
The agencies, including the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Directorate of Revenue and Intelligence (DRI), are working on identifying Indian contacts of Salim as well as Ibrahim’s D-Company to dismantle the entire criminal network.
Last month, the NCB and the navy worked together to intercept a so-called mother ship in the Indian Ocean, resulting in the seizure of 2,500 kg of high quality methamphetamine valued at 1.2 billion. The consignment originated from the death crescent (a term coined by home minister Amit Shah for the smuggling route of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan) and was sent from Makran coast in Balochistan province.
Last week, while filing a charge sheet against 13 people in a probe related to revival of LTTE in India, the NIA said Sri Lankan drug mafia members were sourcing drugs from Salim. “The accused used various foreign WhatsApp numbers to carry out the clandestine trade.