India | Updated Apr 17, 2008 at 11:57am IST

Dawood decoded: Don gets a new look, passport

Mumbai: India's most-wanted criminal Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, who is responsible for the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai that killed over 300 people, has eluded the Interpol for years. Over the years the dreaded gangster has acquired a larger-than-life image with more rumours to his credit than any actor in Bollywood.

After Dawood fled to Karachi in Pakistan speculations were rife that he had undergone plastic surgery to evade detection. However, latest findings by CNN-IBN have scotched all rumours about the surgery. Dawood has grown what we call a French beard.

Declared an international terrorist by the US with an Interpol red corner notice against him, Dawood is known for holding many passports. But after months of investigation, CNN-IBN has found that the don travels by the name of Shaikh Abdul Rehman on a passport issued from a tiny western African nation – the Republic of Mali, a former French colony.

Dawood's passport number is A 1332945 and it was issued to him on April 6, 2005.

The passport has been used in such a clandestine manner that even the Interpol is not aware of its existence. But it is believed that the don also uses a Pakistani passport – H 123259 – issued in Rawalpindi, Pakistan in July 2001. In this Pakistani passport, Dawood is called Md. Anees, a name that does not even figure on the Interpol watchlist.

The gangster has 29 passports from several countries including, Belgium, Burkina Faso, Azerbaijan and Mauritius among others. The Interpol red corner notice lists 11 of his Indian passports, but he apparently does not use them anymore.

His new passport was made so that he could travel easily in African countries and his business in narcotics could spread in Africa and Europe.

The gangster has operated with impunity across countries to leave an indelible stamp of his reach and influence all over the world.

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