Underworld don Izzu Shaikh of Bulsar, wanted by the police for several crimes in the State, is absconding and suspected to be in Dubai. For Shaikh and others, the State Home Department will verify afresh details of their whereabouts and then go ahead with the extradition process. ``We have to prepare a list which will take into consideration the current status of the criminals,'' Additional Director General of Police (Crime) G C Raigar said.

The State Government will have to co-ordinate with the Union Home Ministry, which in turn, through the Union Ministry of External Affairs, will propose the extradition.

More than 25 criminals from throughout the country are suspected to be hiding in the Middle East, according to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) reports.

Following signing of the treaty, the role of different agencies will now assume new equations as chances of hardened criminals being brought to book have increased. ``The treaty is going to improve our co-ordination with the Interpol in nabbing criminals,'' said Additional Director General of Police Raigar.

But the State is facing another peculiar problem too. Criminals like Dawood Ibrahim, who are involved in cases in Gujarat and were hitherto thought to be hiding in the UAE, are now supposed to have shifted base to Karachi.

Crimes in the State are mostly related to property offences and smuggling of explosive material and narcotics to destinations outside Gujarat, according to the police.

What works to the advantage of criminals from the State is the long coastline and the international border with Pakistan. ``Anyone who can walk 15 hours in the night can reach Pakistan, and that's what they do here,'' remarked another senior police officer.

``We do not have a treaty with Pakistan and some other hostile countries, so we are helpless in such cases,'' said Raigar, adding that information was being collected about several criminals. ``We have to constantly keep a check on the whereabouts of criminals,'' he added.

The Assistant Director General of Police said they would have to ferret out information on the basis of strong suspicion and evidence about their hideouts. ``Our estimates are mainly based on suspicion, but we have to back it with fresh information as many of them may have shifted base or come back to India,'' he said.