India had planned a covert operation to take down underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, but the operation was compromised by some Mumbai Police officials. These are the explosive revelations made by former Home Secretary and now BJP leader RK Singh in an interview to Seedhi Baat on Aaj Tak.

RK Singh revealed details of how corrupt elements of the Mumbai Police foiled a secret operation to take down Dawood. The operation was launched when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister and current NSA Ajit Doval was at the IB. Indian government had roped in some elements from the Chota Rajan gang and they were being trained at a secret location outside Maharashtra. But Mumbai Police officials who were in touch with D-company landed up at the training camp with arrest warrants for the covert operatives who had been engaged by India. The entire operation to take down Dawood failed due to these rogue elements in Mumbai police. This is the first time that there is confirmation of a botched covert operation to take down Dawood by someone who has held a position of authority.

Noting that Dawood and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed were protected by Pakistani forces, Singh said a secret operation must be carried out in the manner the United States did to kill terrorists Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar. He added that Pakistan will never admit that Dawood is in Pakistan. Similarly, it will shamelessly deny the presence of other terrorists despite funding and training these terror groups on its soil. "India must repeat the Myanmar operation in Pakistan," he maintained. He added if one operation fails, the government shouldn't be disheartened but launch another operation right away.

Singh said Modi's advisors are not giving him the right advice on this issue. "Nothing will be achieved by handing over dossiers to Pakistan. It is globally recognised as a snake pit. We can't depend on the US to fight India's battles. India has to fight its own enemies," Singh added.

Singh also said the neighbouring country needs to be wise and avert a possible war by not shielding a terrorist. "Pakistan has to calculate the cost of a war. I don't think Pakistan is such a big fool that it would engage in a war with India," he said. "If America sees any threat from Pakistan, it will act. Similarly, Israel can kill its enemies. We need to develop this mentality," he added. The retired bureaucrat revealed that specially-trained private security men comprising mostly ex-army men protect Dawood in Pakistan under the supervision of the ISI. Singh exuded confidence that Modi's visit to the UAE would yield desirable results. He did acknowledge though that Dawood still has significant influence in Dubai.

Coming down heavily on Pakistan, Singh said India must stop dialogue with its neighbor and instead deal with the situation in a strategic manner. "India must hit back in a way that hurts Pakistan the most," he said while suggesting that the dialogue process only helps Pakistan restore credibility which it has lost all over the world. "Pakistan believes in a constant war with India. We have the capability to hit back hard. Any dialogue with Pakistan is futile. For a discredited country like Pakistan, dialogue process is an opportunity to regain its credibility and strike parity with India," Singh said. He said the elected government in the neighbouring country had no control over its military force and the ISI.

Singh lauded the central government's firm stand on separatists in Kashmir. He said the Pakistani government was using separatists to claim in international platform that it has the support of a section of people in Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian government has done the right thing by not talking to separatists, he said.