Mumbai: Describing a senior Pakistani Minister's reported statement that underworld don Dawood Ibrahim was harboured in Pakistan as a "good signal", a top Crime Branch official on September 22 claimed that "it shows a significant change" in the neighbouring country's policy.

"The truthful confession is a good signal for the international community," joint commissioner of police (crime) Satyapal Singh said when his attention was drawn to Sindh Home Minister Aftab Sheikh's reported statement that the Mumbai-based Mafioso had a network in Karachi and might have acquired business interests there.

"The fact that Pakistan has admitted to the man being in the country was definitely going to have some implications," he said.

Singh said, "The admissions reveal that there is a significant change in the policy of the Pakistan government." He, however, refused to elaborate on the same.

To a query whether Mumbai police was making efforts to ensure all the documents necessary for the gangster's extradition were ready, he said, "We have already submitted all the required documents to the Central government."

The Pakistani Minister's statement about the Mumbai crime king being harboured in that country had came after a recent bomb blast at a Karachi business centre.

PTI