India has strongly rejected a United Nations report describing Dawood Ibrahim-led D-Company as an “India-based” criminal group, accusing the report’s author of factual inaccuracies.
Raghoo Puri, First Secretary at India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, raised the objection on Wednesday during a meeting of the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee. He was responding to a report by Ben Saul, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights while countering terrorism.
Puri said the description presented a misleading picture by omitting the fact that Ibrahim has been wanted in India in connection with terror attacks since 1993.
“This is clearly written in the narrative summary of reasons of listing under the 1267 sanctions regime,” Puri said, referring to the UN Security Council’s sanctions framework.
He added that Ibrahim had left India before the Security Council listed him in 2003 for his association with Al-Qaeda. Puri said the UN listing indicated that Ibrahim resided in the same country where Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was found and killed, referring to Pakistan.
Calling the omission “regrettable”, Puri said inaccuracies in reports by UN special mandate holders caused serious harm to the organisation.
India also accused the report of bias and rejected remarks by Pakistan’s delegation concerning Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Puri reiterated that the two Union Territories were integral parts of India.