Why Dawood aide Salim Dola's capture is a big win for Indian agencies

New Delhi,UPDATED: Apr 28, 2026 21:14 IST

In a major breakthrough for Indian intelligence, Salim Dola, a close aide of fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and a key member of D-Company, was deported from Istanbul late Wednesday night and taken into custody by a joint team of central agencies.

Dola, wanted in multiple cases including extortion, narcotics trafficking and terror financing linked to the 1993 Mumbai blasts conspiracy, was detained by Turkish authorities earlier this month following an Interpol Red Corner Notice issued at India’s request. He had been living under an alias in Istanbul’s Beylikdz district and was picked up in a coordinated operation after weeks of surveillance, officials said.

Sources told India Today that the arrest was the result of real-time intelligence sharing between Indian agencies and Turkish counterparts, after inputs suggested Dola was using Istanbul as a transit hub for hawala and gold smuggling networks linked to D-Company operations across West Asia and Europe.

After diplomatic clearances, Dola was flown to New Delhi on a special flight under the custody of the National Investigation Agency (NIA). He landed at IGI Airport around 11:40 pm on April 17 and was taken to an undisclosed location for questioning. “His deportation is a big win for Indian intelligence agencies,” a senior official said. “Dola is not just a shooter or extortionist. He handled logistics, fake passports and money movement for Dawood’s core group. He knows the current structure.”

KEY ROLE IN D-COMPANY OPERATIONS

Dola, who rose through the ranks of the D-Company network in the 1990s, has been named in multiple CBI and NIA chargesheets for allegedly aiding accused persons in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case, officials said.

According to investigators, he was involved in managing hawala operations routed from Dubai to Mumbai via Karachi and Istanbul, and is also suspected of coordinating gold smuggling networks linked to the syndicate.

Officials said Dola frequently travelled to Karachi and is believed to have had direct access to Dawood Ibrahim and his brother Anees Ibrahim.

Dola fled India in 2003 and was last traced in the UAE in 2019 before shifting base to Turkey amid a crackdown on D-Company assets in Dubai.

FOCUS OF INTERROGATION

A multi-agency team comprising officials from the NIA, Intelligence Bureau (IB), Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Mumbai Police has begun questioning him.

The focus is on mapping D-Company’s current hierarchy, especially amid reports of Dawood’s declining health, and identifying who is handling day-to-day operations.

Investigators are also probing links between D-Company, Lashkar-e-Taiba and recent hawala transactions tied to the Pahalgam terror attack case. Other areas include identifying safe houses, fake passport networks in Turkey, the UAE and Southeast Asia, and Dola’s alleged role in routing synthetic drugs from Pakistan to India via maritime routes.

“He is cooperating selectively,” an officer said. “But we have digital and financial trails to corroborate. His phone and laptop seized in Istanbul are already being analysed.”

TURKEY EMERGES AS NEW HUB

Officials say Turkey has increasingly emerged as a new operational base for D-Company as pressure mounted in the UAE. Istanbul’s connectivity, diaspora presence and relatively easier residency pathways have made it attractive for such networks.

Dola’s deportation follows the 2024 extradition of another Dawood aide linked to Chhota Shakeel from Malaysia, signalling a broader push by Indian agencies to dismantle the syndicate’s global footprint.

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