Dongri To Dubai: Six Decades Of The Mumbai Mafia, published in 2012, is a non-fiction book about notorious gangsters and also contains a comprehensive coverage of Dawood Ibrahim’s life. This is the first book that presents the history of the Mumbai mafia, and details the lives of Karim Lala, Chhota Rajan, Haji Mastan, Abu Salem, and Varadarajan Mudaliar. The main part of the book revolves around Dawood Ibrahim and describes his story starting from a young age as a boy in Mumbai to the international terrorist he has become today.

This book traces the journey of a boy from Dongri to Dubai. Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar was born in 1955 to a policeman. The author describes Dawood’s first robbery, his love affairs during his youth, and how he turned into a local goon. The police used to use him against various Pathan gangsters. Gradually, he managed to destroy the competition, formed the Dawood gang, and ended up being the Mumbai Police’s arch nemesis. The don is an ally of Pakistan’s ISI, though he is not an Islamic fundamentalist.

Zaidi analyses that this alliance was born out of necessity. Pakistan is said to shelter him though he is one of the most wanted people on this planet, and in return he funds Islamic jihads. Interestingly, Dawood’s biggest source of income in Pakistan comes from selling pirated Bollywood movies. The personality and characteristics of Dawood Ibrahim have been covered well in this book. His lust for power, his focus, his shrewdness, and his calculating mind have been captured beautifully.

Dongri To Dubai: Six Decades Of The Mumbai Mafia covers the people behind the major crimes in India. Meticulously researched, this book also has intelligent analysis along with the facts. Dawood Ibrahim’s rise from a local to an international gangster is sure to keep readers hooked. The new movie, Shootout At Wadala, is based on this book.

S. Hussain Zaidi is an Indian crime reporter and author. He has written books like Mafia Queens Of Mumbai: Stories Of Women From The Ganglands and Black Friday: The True Story Of The Bombay Bomb Blasts and Headley And I.

Zaidi was born to a tailor, and grew up in the Mumbai suburb of Vikhroli. He studied commerce from Chetna College, and later went on to work for newspapers like the Indian Express, Asian Age, Mid-day, and Mumbai Mirror. He has been working as a journalist and covering the Mumbai mafia for twenty years. Zaidi is an associate producer for an HBO movie which is based on the 26/11 terrorist attacks. This author also conducted the last ever published interview of Dawood Ibrahim. He is married to crime reporter Velly Thevar, and they live in Mumbai.