Mission Istanbul: Who is Salim Dola – the ‘Dawood aide’ brought back to India?

Jayanta Kalita & Rajesh SharmaTIMESOFINDIA.COM
May 1, 2026 | 12:31 IST
Illustration: AI

Apprehended by Turkish agencies, Dola is now in NCB custody and is expected to offer investigators insight into the financial pipelines, shadow networks, and cross-border alliances sustaining his narcotics trade

In a tightly coordinated international operation, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) secured the return of Mohammad Salim Dola, a 59-year-old fugitive long suspected of anchoring one of western India’s most elusive drug networks.

For investigators who had tracked his movements across continents for nearly a decade, Dola’s arrival from Istanbul marked more than an arrest — it signalled a shift in how India is pursuing organised crime in an increasingly borderless world.
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