Dawood ill, wants to surrender: MNS chief

Mumbai, September 21

Dawood Ibrahim, prime accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, is ill and is negotiating with the Centre for surrender, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray said here today.

“Dawood is currently doing a ‘setting’ with the government so that he can return to India,” Thackeray said at an event to launch his Facebook page. The MNS chief said the BJP too was keen on bringing Dawood back just around the 2019 Lok Sabha elections so that it could exploit the situation politically.

“Dawood is keen to return so that he can die in his motherland …. The BJP, however, wants to take credit for this in order to win the next elections,” Thackeray said.

The MNS chief also utilised the occasion to hit out at the Narendra Modi government. “Three and half years have passed and we are still waiting... fake praises are meaningless... This country has only heard speeches for 70 years,” he said.

He also hit out at the Centre’s demonetisation move. “If 99 per cent money came back, where is it? The ones who owned black money are still safe,” Thackeray said.

About bullet train project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, Thackeray said it was in continuation of the Gujarati lobby’s old dream to make the country’s financial capital a part of Gujarat. “Don’t we understand your tactics? The bullet train is in pursuit of joining Mumbai with Gujarat. To keep the Gujaratis of Mumbai happy you are taking 

a loan of Rs 1.08 lakh crore,” Thackeray said. — TNS