Dawood Ibrahim wants to return to India but has some preconditions

Mumbai, March 06: Well-known criminal lawyer Shyam Keswani on Tuesday said fugitive mafia don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar is reportedly "keen to return to India" but with certain preconditions which are not acceptable to the Indian government.

Speaking to the media outside the Thane Court, where he represented Iqbal Ibrahim Kaskar (the absconder don's brother) in an extortion case, the lawyer said among the conditions Dawood has stipulated are that he should be lodged only in the high-secure precincts of Arthur Road Central Jail (ARCJ) in Mumbai.

"He had also conveyed his intentions through (former union minister and eminent lawyer) Ram Jethmalani a few years ago but the Indian government has not entertained any of his preconditions to return," Keswani said.

The ARCJ is the same prison where the Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab was lodged for nearly four years till his hanging for his role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.