Indian 'crime lord' Dawood Ibrahim's whereabouts 'unknown'

Dawood Ibrahim is a "most wanted man" in India

India's government has told the parliament that it has no idea about the whereabouts of former Mumbai underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.

Ibrahim is a "most wanted man" in India and has been charged with masterminding the 1993 Mumbai serial bombings.

Some 257 people died and more than 700 others were wounded in the attacks.

India had earlier alleged that Ibrahim was sheltering in the Pakistani city of Karachi. Islamabad has always denied the charge.

"The United Nations Security Council has also issued a special notice against him [Dawood Ibrahim]. The subject has not been located so far. Extradition process with regard to Dawood Ibrahim would be initiated once the subject is located," junior Home Minister Haribhai Chaudhury was quoted as saying in the parliament by the Press Trust of India news agency.

The Mumbai bombings were believed to have been carried out to avenge the deaths of hundreds of Muslims in riots in 1992 blamed on the right-wing Hindu Shiv Sena party.

Ibrahim was named a "global terrorist" in October 2003, and in June 2006, he was named by the US president as a "foreign narcotics trafficker".

He is accused of smuggling narcotics from Afghanistan and Thailand to the US, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa.