U-turn by former CBI officer Neeraj Kumar, says Dawood Ibrahim was not willing to surrender

New Delhi: In a major u-turn, former Deputy Inspector General of Central Bureau of Investigation Neeraj Kumar denied reports said that at no stage was one of India most wanted terrorist and underworld don Dawood willing to surrender and no one stopped him from surrendering.

The clarification came after Kumar faced criticism following a report which had attributed the claim to his book.

Kumar had claimed that said he spoke to Dawood thrice in June 1994 and he was toying with idea of surrendering. He even said that the investigating agency refused Dawood's offer to surrender as the CBI was unwilling to guarantee Dawood's safety. The IPS officer later on became the Delhi Police Commissioner.

But former CBI chief Vijay Rama Rao refuted the claims made by Neeraj Kumar in the book. Rao said no such offer came from Dawood of his surrender or on his behalf.

"We have made huge efforts to arrest him and at no stage such offer came to my knowledge. If such offer would have came, the Government of India and CBI would not have left it. During my entire tenure, I have tried a lot to catch him and I have never stopped senior officer to take any action in this regard."

Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, however, said, "We cannot react as we don't have any official information on Dawood Ibrahim."
CBI sources said there are no file notings to show that any offer of surrender was made by Dawood.

Even noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani claimed that Dawood called him and said that he wanted to surrender.

Dawood Ibrahim was the mastermind behind the 1993 Mumbai blasts. On March 12, 1993, the city of Mumbai was rocked by 13 explosions in different parts of the city. It resulted in 257 fatalities and over 700 were injured.