New Delhi: India has strongly criticised a United Nations report describing Dawood Ibrahim’s D-Company as an “India based” criminal organisation, arguing that the description ignores key facts about the fugitive’s history and location.
Raghoo Puri, First Secretary at India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, raised the objection on Wednesday during the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly. He challenged a report by Ben Saul, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism.
India expressed concern over what it described as repeated factual inaccuracies in reports prepared by special rapporteurs, arguing that such errors can undermine the credibility of the United Nations and damage its standing among member states.
Puri specifically objected to a passage stating that the UN Security Council had listed the leader of the “India based D-Company” in 2003 because of links with Al-Qaeda.
He argued that this description presented an incomplete picture of the organisation and its leader. Dawood Ibrahim has been wanted in India in connection with the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts and other serious criminal activities.
India pointed to the narrative summary accompanying the relevant listing under the UN Security Council’s 1267 sanctions regime, which addresses individuals and entities associated with Al-Qaeda and related terrorist activities.
According to Puri, Dawood had left India well before his 2003 listing and was designated during a period when he was operating from outside the country. He argued that failing to mention these details misrepresented the circumstances surrounding the listing.
Puri called for the record to be corrected, warning that factual errors by UN-appointed experts could cause significant harm to the organisation’s credibility.
Dawood Ibrahim remains a wanted fugitive in India. His whereabouts have long been linked to Pakistan, although claims concerning his residence have been disputed by Pakistani authorities.
The reference to Pakistan also drew a comparison with Osama bin Laden, the former Al-Qaeda leader who was killed by US forces in Abbottabad in 2011.
The dispute highlights India’s continuing efforts to challenge international descriptions of cross-border criminal and terrorist networks and to ensure that official UN documents reflect what it considers to be the established facts.
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