Now that Pak has admitted Dawood's there India must extradite & hang him: Ramdas Athawale

Union Minister and Rajya Sabha MP Ramdas Athawale on Sunday said the Centre should exert pressure on Pakistan government for the extradition of wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim to India. Athawale said that criminals like Ibrahim "deserve to be hanged".

"The Indian government should pressurise the Pakistan government for handing over of Dawood Ibrahim as he was the mastermind behind the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai," the Union Minister of State for Social Justice said in a statement. "Until now, Pakistan had never admitted that it has been sheltering him for so many years," he added

"I am going to write a letter to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs about it. Criminals like Dawood deserve to be hanged," he said.

Pakistan backtracks after massive admission

The statement comes after a Pakistan government document revealed that Dawood Ibrahim, among the most wanted in India, is living in Karachi. Islamabad has for years denied that it has sheltered Dawood, responsible for the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, along with other terrorists. Dawood Ibrahim is wanted in India to face the law of the land for carrying out serial blasts in Mumbai in 1993 in which hundreds of people were killed and injured. India has asked Pakistan several times to hand over Dawood Ibrahim.

The document that revealed Dawood's location was related to a list of 88 terrorists that were sanctioned by the Pakistan government. His address on the document is White House, Karachi.

However, Pakistan on Sunday backtracked from its stance and said that the media reports are 'baseless and misleading'. Issuing a statement, Pakistan's foreign ministry rejected that Dawood is in their country, despite mentioning his three Karachi addresses in the UNSC's list released on August 18.

READ | Pakistan reveals Dawood Ibrahim's Karachi home 'White House'; 88 terrorists sanctioned

Contradicting its own admission, Pakistan's foreign ministry said that the information in the notifications of August 18 is "reproduced as per the details in the list entry of the individuals/entities designated under the two sanctions regime, which is publically available and contains names of individuals, who despite their confirmed deceased status still continue to be on the sanctions list."

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Pakistan's Foreign Ministry statement said, "The reports in certain sections of the media about Pakistan imposing any new sanctions measures, through these notifications, are not factual. Similarly, the assertions made by some sections of the Indian media, as to Pakistan admitting to the presence of certain listed individuals on its territory, based on the information contained in the notifications, is baseless and misleading."

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(With agency inputs)