India on Wednesday asked Pakistan to verify reports that “global terrorist” Dawood Ibrahim, wanted for the 1993 Mumbai blasts, has been detained by authorities in the port city of Karachi.

According to Pakistani media reports, the US —which placed Dawood in the category of “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” —has approached Islamabad for handing him over to American authorities for questioning about his links with the al Qaeda terror group. India has maintained that Pakistan’s ISI is providing shelter to Dawood, a charge denied by Islamabad.

The CBI which also doubles as Interpol’s India chapter  wrote a letter to Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), seeking its comments on reports about the detention of Dawood by authorities in Karachi after a gun-battle, official sources said. FIA, which is Interpol’s representative in Pakistan, was also asked by the CBI to provide details about the detention of Dawood, who has been on the run since the March 1993 bombing.
Some media reports claimed Dawood was wounded in a shootout in Karachi while others said the underworld don was detained in Quetta with his aides Tiger Memon and Chhota Shakeel. A television report even suggested that Dawood had moved out of Pakistan and is currently in Saudi Arabia.