Dawood Ibrahim’s wife Mehjabeen Shaikh tells Times Now reporter - he is sleeping, please call after sometime

Staff correspondent, August 22, 2015, NewsCrunch

In a clever scoop a Times Now reporter claimed to have put a call through to the Dawood Ibrahim residence at Karachi and managed to speak to his family members , including his wife Mehjabeen Shaikh.

A person, who came on the line identified herself as Mehjabeen Shaikh, Dawood Ibrahim’s wife, and said her husband was at home, but sleeping. “Please all after sometime,” she requested the Times Now reporter.

If the conversation is verified, the ease at which the call was placed shows that Dawood Ibrahim family is living in the open, using their real names, though Pakistan has consistently denied their existence in the country.

Given the interest in the security agencies of different countries in dealing with Dawood Ibrahim, recognised as one of the world’s most wanted terrorists, the scenario is baffling.

Going by the polite Mehjabeen Shaikh’s response, you could have spoken to any well-meaning middle-aged woman in Karachi.

Another Times Now reporter placed a second call and spoke to another person at the same address. However, this person was more guarded and did not let the call through.

On Saturday, The Hindustan Times had reported that Indian officials had marshalled documentary proofs to nail the Pakistani lie that Dawood Ibrahim was not in Karachi.

The Hindustan Times said the Indian agencies had a copy of the telephone bill that had been issued in the name of Mehjabeen Shaikh and gave the full address of their residence, where the instrument had been installed.

The bill, issued in April 2015, lists the address as D-13, Block-4, Karachi Development Authority, Sch-5, Clifton, Karachi.

The telephone bill released by the Indian agencies had blacked out the last four digits of the phone number +92213587xxxx. Times Now seems to have accessed the full number from its sources and placed a call hitting a jackpot.