Dawood Ibrahim
Indian gangster and founder of the D-Company syndicate.
Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, born 26 December 1955, is an Indian gangster, mob boss, drug lord, and narcoterrorist who heads the D-Company syndicate he created in Mumbai during the 1970s. He faces charges for murder, extortion, targeted killings, drug trafficking, and terrorism. He is suspected of orchestrating the 1993 Bombay bombings and has been named a global terrorist by the United Nations Security Council’s 1267 Committee (Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee), as well as by the United States in 2003. The U.S. offers a $25 million reward for his capture. Reports place him in Karachi, Pakistan, though Pakistani authorities deny this.
Dawood grew up in a Konkani Muslim family in Khed, Maharashtra. His father, a Mumbai Police head constable, and his mother, a homemaker, raised him in Dongri’s Temkar Mohalla. He dropped out of Ahmed Sailor High School. As a teenager, he turned to fraud, theft, and robbery. In Dongri, he clashed with gangster Haji Mastan and later joined the syndicate of local don Baashu Dada. In the late 1970s, he broke away to form his own gang with his brother Shabir Ibrahim Kaskar. After Shabir was killed by the rival Pathan gang led by Karim Lala, Dawood became the sole leader of what became D-Company. His early crimes included gold smuggling, real estate scams, extortion, and drug trafficking. In 1986, wanted for murdering Samad Khan, he fled to Dubai. With his deputy Chhota Rajan, he expanded the gang to over 5,000 members, generating hundreds of millions of rupees annually by the early 1990s. He also had a long feud with criminal Manya Surve.
Dawood is widely blamed for the March 1993 Bombay bombings. In 2017, lawyer Ram Jethmalani stated that after the blasts, Dawood called him from London, offering to return to India for trial if police would not mistreat him. Jethmalani relayed this to politician Sharad Pawar, but the government refused, allegedly fearing Dawood would expose their secrets. After the attacks, Dawood left Dubai for Karachi, where he is believed to still reside. Selective police action against D-Company during the Shiv Sena administration, along with encounter killings, reportedly boosted Chhota Rajan’s underworld power—similar to how Dawood benefited from the 1980s crackdown on the Pathan gang. Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece, Saamana, edited by Bal Thackeray, praised Rajan’s survival as divine grace.
Quick Facts
- Birth Name
- Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar
- Birth Date
- 26 December 1955
- Birth Place
- Khed, Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, India
- Occupation
- Gangster · crime lord · drug lord · syndicate leader
- Organization
- D-Company
- Criminal Charge
- Organised crime, drug trafficking, extortion, targeted killing, terrorism, narcoterrorism burglary, raping
- Wanted By
- India / United States
- Wanted Since
- 1993
- Spouse
- Mahjabeen Shaikh alias Zubeena Zareen and a Pakistani Pathan woman (alleged second wife)
- Children
- One son Moin Nawaz, three daughters, Mahrukh, Mehreen and Maria (deceased)
- Relatives
- Five brothers Shabir (deceased), Anees, Noor (deceased), Iqbal, Ibrahim and Mustaquim and 4 sisters Saeeda (deceased), Haseena (deceased), Zaitun and Farzana
- Years Active
- 1976–present
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Dawood Ibrahim was born to a Konkani Muslim family in Khed, Maharashtra, and grew up in the Temkar Mohalla area of Dongri, Mumbai. He dropped out of Ahmed Sailor High School and began committing fraud, theft and robbery as a teen. After coming into contact with gangster Haji Mastan, he joined the gang of local don Baashu Dada. In the late 1970s, he split from that gang to form his own with his elder brother Shabir Ibrahim Kaskar. Following Shabir's murder by the rival Pathan gang, Dawood became sole boss of what became D-Company, involved in gold smuggling, real estate, extortion and drug trafficking. He fled to Dubai in 1986 after being wanted for murder, and later expanded his gang to over 5000 members.
Reader's Guide
Dawood Ibrahim's significance lies in his transformation from a local Mumbai gangster to the head of a transnational criminal syndicate with links to terrorism. He is widely held responsible for the 1993 Bombay bombings, which killed hundreds and marked a turning point in India's fight against organised crime and terror. His D-Company has been accused of destabilising India through riots, terrorism and counterfeit currency, and of sharing smuggling routes with al-Qaeda. Despite being on the NIA Most Wanted list and wanted by Interpol since 1993, he has evaded capture, reportedly living in Karachi, Pakistan—a claim Pakistan denies. His legacy includes a lasting impact on Indian security policy and international counter-terrorism efforts, as well as a place on Forbes' and the FBI's most wanted lists.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Dawood Ibrahim?
Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, born 26 December 1955, is an Indian organized-crime figure who built the D-Company syndicate in Mumbai beginning in the 1970s. He is widely regarded as one of the most powerful mob bosses to emerge from India's underworld.
What is D-Company and what does it do?
D-Company is the criminal network Dawood Ibrahim founded in Mumbai during the 1970s, and it has since expanded into drug trafficking, extortion, targeted killings, and money-laundering operations across several countries. The syndicate is considered one of the largest and best-funded criminal organizations in South Asia.
What is Dawood Ibrahim most infamously linked to?
He is widely suspected of orchestrating the 1993 Bombay bombings, a series of coordinated explosions that killed more than 250 people and devastated the city. That event cemented his reputation as a narcoterrorist and directly led to his subsequent global terrorist designations.
Where is Dawood Ibrahim and has he ever been captured?
Despite decades of an international manhunt, Dawood Ibrahim has never been apprehended, and credible reports consistently place him living in Karachi, Pakistan. He remains one of the most wanted fugitives in the world.
Why is Dawood Ibrahim designated a global terrorist?
The United Nations Security Council's 1267 Committee listed him as a global terrorist, and the United States separately designated him in 2003, citing his roles in terrorism, drug trafficking, and targeted assassinations. The U.S. government has placed a $25 million bounty on his capture, reflecting the enormous scale of his criminal empire.
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