Dawood’s close aide Chhota Shakeel had said the gangster is very much “alive and healthy”

Reports of fugitive terrorist Dawood Ibrahim being poisoned in Pakistan are fake and have been peddled by Pakistani authorities, sources in the Indian intelligence network said.

“He is fit and has been observed undertaking usual activities. The fake news was possibly peddled by Pakistani agencies to portray to the outside world that Dawood Ibrahim is dead,” a top official said, adding that sources in the posh Clifton area of Karachi have not witnessed any unusual activity either.

“Dawood is alive and healthy. Even I was shocked to see this fake news. I met him multiple times yesterday,” he said.

Reports on various social media platforms had alleged that Dawood Ibrahim was rushed to hospital after being poisoned. Some users even posted screenshots of what appeared to be the account of Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar, which mentioned that Dawood had died. But the message and account turned out to be fake.

The viral message read, “The Messiah of humanity, dear to every Pakistani heart, our beloved His Excellency Dawood Ibrahim passed away due to poisoned by unknown. He breathed his last in a hospital in Karachi. May Allah grant him the highest position in Jannat. Inna Lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un.”

Based in Karachi and wanted for multiple terror activities in India, including the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, Dawood Ibrahim has a bounty of $25 million on his head announced by the United Nations Security Council in 2003.

He is among India’s most wanted men, along with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar, Hizbul Mujahideen founder Syed Salahuddin and his close aide Abdul Rauf Asghar.