Dawood Ibrahim living in Pakistan: New Delhi slams UN official over report calling D-Company ‘India-based’ | India News

NEW DELHI: India has strongly criticised United Nations Special Rapporteur Ben Saul over a counter-terrorism report that described underworld figure Dawood Ibrahim’s criminal network, D-Company, as “India-based”, calling for greater accuracy and impartiality in reports issued by UN mandate holders.

The controversy centres on a report titled Distinguishing Organized Crime from Terrorism to Protect Human Rights, released in July. The document referred to D-Company as an India-based criminal gang with links to terrorism.

Speaking at the United Nations, Raghoo Puri, India's First Secretary at the Permanent Mission of India to the UN, expressed serious concern over what he described as factual inaccuracies in reports published by special rapporteurs without sufficient accountability.

Puri said Dawood Ibrahim was a wanted criminal in India and, according to his United Nations listing, was residing in Pakistan. He argued that describing D-Company as India-based without providing the relevant context presented an incomplete picture of the organisation's activities and its leadership.

India Highlights Dawood Ibrahim’s Terror Links
Puri noted that the UN Security Council listed the head of D-Company in 2003 over links to Al-Qaeda. However, he said Dawood and his criminal network had been wanted in India in connection with terror attacks dating back to 1993, well before the UN listing.

He pointed to the narrative summary of the reasons for the listing under the Security Council's 1267 sanctions regime, arguing that the report should have included this information.

“Not mentioning this fact is regrettable, and such incompetence on the part of special mandate holders does this organisation tremendous harm,” Puri said.

India maintained that omitting the historical context surrounding Dawood's alleged terrorist links risked creating a misleading impression of the criminal network and its activities.

Call for Greater Accountability
The Indian delegation urged UN experts to maintain high standards of impartiality, factual accuracy and responsibility when preparing reports on sensitive security issues.

Special rapporteurs are independent experts who carry out their mandates without receiving direct payment from the United Nations. Their reports are intended to provide independent assessments of human rights and other issues within their areas of responsibility.

The dispute highlights tensions between India's security concerns and the work of independent UN experts, particularly when reports address organised crime, terrorism and international sanctions.

India's criticism underscores its demand that international assessments accurately reflect the background, activities and documented links of individuals and organisations associated with terrorism.