Will not rest till 1993 Mumbai victims brought to justice: MEA

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Saturday said information revealed by former Pakistani diplomat Shahryar Khan, momentarily confirming mafia don Dawood Ibrahim's presence in the country, would help in delivering justice to victims of the 1993 Bombay bomb blasts.

"Like you, I too have seen these reports which have been attributed to a senior official of the Pakistan Government. As you are aware, the 1993 Mumbai Bomb Blasts dossier has never been closed by us. Therefore, now that we have received more information about it, we will not rest till those responsible for the 1993 attacks against our citizens in Mumbai are brought to justice, wherever they are. We will continue to pursue this quest," MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said.

According to reports, Shahryar Khan, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's special envoy for improving relations with India, said on Friday that Dawood was in Pakistan but has been "chased out" and could be in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

While speaking to reporters at a pre-launch event for his book "Cricket Cauldron: The Turbulent Politics of Sport in Pakistan" in London, Shahryar Khan said: "Dawood (Ibrahim) was in Pakistan, but I believe he was chased out of Pakistan. If he is in Pakistan, he should be hounded and arrested. We cannot allow such gangsters to operate from the country," said Khan. The former diplomat added that if Dawood was still in Pakistan he would have been arrested by now.

However, he later did a complete U-turn on his statement by telling an Indian television channel that he had never known where Dawood lived and his earlier statement was just reflecting what the Pakistani media has been reporting in the past.

Dawood Ibrahim is the prime accused in the 1993 Mumbai attacks which killed over 250 people and injured about 700 people in a single day.

12 March, 1993 came to be known as "Black Friday," in light of the 13 bomb explosions that rocked Mumbai that day.