NEW DELHI, AUGUGUG 13EIGHT months before Abu Salem -- a member of the Dawood Ibrahim gang reportedly ordered the killing of Gulshan Kumar from Dubai, the CBI had requested for his extradition.

However, the request became just another of the 35 others pending with the Government of United Arab Emirates (UAE); And like the other requests, this too was put on the backburner. The investigating agency is not too optimistic about getting back any of the members of the Dawood gang, hawala dealers and arms and drugs smugglers sitting pretty in Dubai at least till the two countries sign an extradition treaty.

Minister of State for External Affairs Saleem Sherwani is expected to take up this issue with the UAE Government during his visit to Dubai on August 17.Dawood Ibrahim, his younger brother Anees Ibrahim, Tiger Memon and his wife, Ayub Memon and his wife, Javed Chikna, Chhota Shakeel, Abu Salem, Tahir Taklya, Ijaz Pathan, Mohammad Dossa, Anil Parav and Haji Ahmed are the key persons wanted by the CBI for various cases Bombay blasts, arms and drugs smuggling and hawala dealings. While Dossa has set up base in Ajman (UAE), others, including Dawood, the Memon brothers and Javed Chikna, have now shifted base to Karachi.

According to sources, they keep shuttling between Dubai, Karachi and Saudi Arabia ``where Dawood sometimes goes for pilgrimage''. They visit Dubai once in six months to remain the country's passport holders. However, it's Dawood's brother, Anees Ibrahim, who is running the show in Dubai and Abu Salem is his hitman and closest lieutenant, sources say.

The Indian intelligence agencies claim they have precise information about the accused, their addresses and even their telephone numbers in Dubai and Karachi but are helpless in the face of non-cooperation from the respective countries.

They claim to know the location of Dawood's plush farmhouse in Karachi. Also, that he spends his day fishing and shooting birds; that his brother Anees and other associates are busy arranging the shooting of film industry bigwigs.

Sources say that when they face so many problems in getting the accused from Dubai, it is next to impossible to get them from Pakistan. Their requests, every time, meet a stone wall followed by a warning that ``please don't ask us about them again since they are not with us''.

``At present, the UAE Government is not obliged to send back any of the 35 men wanted for various crimes in India. Since there is no treaty, our request is invariably turned down on one ground or the other. Either we are told that the wanted men are not in UAE at all or we are reminded of those men who are wanted in Dubai for some crime or the other,'' sources reveal.

The intelligence agencies say that left to their own, they would never be able to get any of the accused back. ``It has to be a serious diplomatic effort by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) at their level,'' sources say.

A senior MEA official says that it sounds very easy but there are too many intricacies involved in the entire process.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.