London, Feb 13 (PTI) Iqbal Mirchi, sought by Indian
police in connection with the 1993 Mumbai blasts and
other criminal cases, is currently ranked among the
top 50 global drug barons, a United Nations report
has said.
According to the report, Mirchi, who has spent
the past 15 years in the Essex town of Hornchurch
in the UK, is a senior figure in the 'D' company,
a worldwide organised-crime syndicate.
But, Mirchi claimed in an interview to 'The Observer
on Sunday' that he has no involvement in organised
crime or terrorism. He also claimed that he has written
to the US State Department expressing outrage about
his name being included on the kingpin list.
"The British police, the Indian police, the
American police, all have my address because I have
written to them and told them. If I am a kingpin and
they want to arrest me, they know exactly where to
find me," he told the paper.
Last week his name cropped up during the trial
of Hemant
Lakhani, an NRI accused of smuggling a shoulder-launched
missile to the US, who was said to be an associate
of the "drug lord and terror suspect" Mirchi.
Mirchi also admitted meeting underworld don Dawood
Ibrahim in Dubai. "He is from Mumbai, I am from
Mumbai. There was some contact but I have never worked
for him. It was social. These people are the mafia,
they kill people. I have never hurt anybody in my
life," he claimed.
A request for Mirchi's extradition to India was turned
down by magistrates at Bow Street here. India did
not appeal.
"...I have offered to return to India but asked
for a guarantee that I would be given judicial protection,"
he told the paper. PTI
