A major chunk of the fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s assets worth a whopping Rs 43,000 crore (6.7 billion US dollar) have allegedly been seized by the UK government. (PTI image)

A major chunk of the fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s assets worth a whopping Rs 43,000 crore (6.7 billion US dollar) have allegedly been seized by the UK government, according to India Today report. Ibrahim is a key accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts and has been absconding for over two decades. It has been learnt that he features on the latest UK Treasury department’s Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets. Notably, the central government had in 2015 provided crucial dossier on the dreaded gangster to UK government. UN Security Council’s IS and al-Qaida Sanctions Committee has designated him as a global terrorist.

On August 30, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi had said Ibrahim is in Pakistan and Islamabad has been creating hurdles in getting him back to India to face the law. Mehrishi had said the government is taking all required action so that Ibrahim could be brought back to India. “Dawood Ibrahim is in Pakistan. That country has given him shelter. That country is also putting hurdles in bringing him back to India to face the law,” he told PTI here.

Dawood is the main accused in the 1993 serial bomb blasts case in Mumbai in which around 260 people were killed, and more than 700 were injured. He fled India post the bombings and is hiding in Pakistan at present, according to PTI reports.

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#TNExclusive | We welcome UK’s move of seizing Dawood Ibrahim’s assets: Hansraj Ahir, MoS Home Affairs pic.twitter.com/Iua2cDUXmR — TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) September 13, 2017

In April, Home Minister Rajnath Singh had stated there was no doubt that Ibrahim was still in Pakistan. During the last 10 years, India has sent several dossiers to Pakistan in this regard, naming Ibrahim as the accused in the Mumbai blasts case. In 2011, P Chidambaram, the then home minister in the UPA government, had also said that Ibrahim was based in Karachi.

India has for long been advocating an extradition treaty between SAARC countries in order to ensure quick action against those involved in terrorist activities. Both India and Pakistan are members of SAARC.