Underworld don Dawood Ibrahim has put brakes on his plan to invest his ill-gotten money in real estate in Mumbai and has shifted his focus to Pakistan after police last year exposed his alleged investment in a shopping complex in south Mumbai, police sources said on Tuesday.
"We have specific information that Dawood has shifted his focus to Pakistan's port town of Karachi, where he has made a large investment," a senior Crime Branch official told PTI.
The official said that intelligence reports indicated that Dawood had reportedly invested crores of rupees to construct a mall in Clifton area of Karachi, one of the elite areas of the port town.
Mumbai Police had booked Dawood's youngest brother Iqbal Kaskar under stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act and even initiated probe against several BMC officials, after investigations revealed Dawood's alleged 'benami' investment in Sara-Sahara shopping complex in south Mumbai.
The shopping complex, that came up opposite the Mumbai Police Commissioner's office in Crawford Market area, was found to have been constructed by occupying a piece of land that belonged to the Central Public Works department.
With the Sara-Sahara shopping complex case, the Mumbai Police concentrated on exposing more 'benami' investments of Dawood in and around Mumbai, and that is the reason why Dawood reportedly stalled his future plans of investment in Mumbai and has shifted focus to Pakistan, where he is believed to be hiding, police sources said.