Former IPS officer says Pawar should have discussed Dawood's surrender proposal

Former IPS officer and lawyer Yogesh Pratap Singh on Saturday said that the then Maharashtra chief minister Sharad Pawar was 'at fault' for not consulting the state and national intelligence agencies before rejecting the surrender proposal of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim after the 1993 Mumbai blasts.

"If Ram Jethmalani had come out with a specific offer of surrender, a conditional surrender, in that case, Sharad Pawar should not have rejected it outright. It was his duty to consult the state and the national intelligence agencies who are experts in the field and this lead could have been pursued by the professionals of the intelligence agencies so that the surrender could have been made consequential," Singh told ANI here.

"At that very time when Iqbal Memon could have been brought to India through an intelligence operation. By similar reckoning, it was possible for the intelligence agencies to have brought back Dawood to India. By outrightly rejecting the offer without consulting the state and national intelligence agencies, Sharad Pawar is at fault and I think he should accept that," he added.

Pawar had earlier said that senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani's proposition regarding the surrender of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim was not viable as a criminal like him could not be left without being arrested.

"Ram Jethmalani had given a proposition; that's true, but it was conditional. He had put such a condition wherein Dawood would not have been arrested if he had come to India. You cannot not but arrest a person who has so many cases against him. Everybody needs to follow the law but Jethmalani ji did not accept the suggestion," said Pawar.

Jethmalani had claimed that Dawood had offered to surrender to the Indian authorities in the nineties, but Pawar did not carry the matter forward.

"Dawood said that he was ready to come back, but needed assurance from the government that they will not use third degree... and will keep him under house arrest. He said that he was ready to face the punishment if he was wrong," Jethmalani said.

"When he said this, I sent this in writing to Sharad Pawar... I told my son to inform about this offer to the local authorities," he added.

The 1993 bombings were a series of bomb explosions that took place in Mumbai. The single-day attacks resulted in over 350 fatalities and 1200 injuries.