The Union Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore clarified in the tweets saying that, in an interview on "covert operations", he said that, he is going to catch the most wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim soon.

The tweet read: "Incorrect vers of my stmnts allegedly on Dawood attributed to me (sic)”. Attaching a link to his interview, he even said that, he had spoken about "dossier diplomacy."

“To neutralize Dawood Ibrahim and also 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed, the government would explore every possible means, including a covert or a special operation. "India's enemies, like Dawood Ibrahim and LeT chief Hafiz Saeed, should not believe that India is not thinking about them. We always remain ready to neutralise our enemy," Rathore added.’

The Indian security officials believe that Dawood is currently sheltering in Karachi and Saeed, the head of Jamaat-ud-Dawah, is at Lahore. After the collapse of planned talks between the national security advisers, Rathore’s remarks came against the backdrop of a sharp downturn in bilateral ties. 

Possibility of covert operation 

When a few of the people asked about the possibility of covert operation in the case of Dawood Ibrahim, Rathore said, we may do the operation, but surely we could not give the publicity for it, as it might create the law and order problem in the country. However, the government might even made the operation as covert or special.  

Difference between covert operation and special operation?

As the name itself indicates, the covert operation might never be known to the public, whereas a special operation can be known after it was performed. However, it depends on the government, whether to make the operation public or not.

Responding to the question of what the government is doing towards the case, Rathore said, “As NDA government is formed last year, as of now, it did not take any step towards the issue, except planning the dossiers.”   

By Phani Ch