In the 1970s, Dawood Ibrahim worked for a local smuggler named Bashu Dada. Bashu Dada had a close friendship with Dawood's father, who was a police constable. His father wielded immense clout among the gangsters and common people due to his sense of morality and justice, while also being a part of the Crime Branch. However, Bashu Dada and Dawood had a falling-out after Bashu Dada insulted the latter's father. In 1976, Dawood — along with seven of his close friends and his elder brother Shabir Ibrahim Kaskar — attacked Basu Dada with empty soda bottles, a first in the history of gang warfare in Bombay. After this incident Bashu Dada's key enforcer Khalid Pehlwan persuaded Dawood to start his smuggling operations, which led to the formation of the D Company. Dawood and his elder brother Shabir, with the help of Khalid Pehlwan, began their smuggling operations. This ultimately led them to clash with the Pathan gang, the most influential gang in Mumbai at the time. By 1986, D Company had eliminated most of the Pathan gang leadership, emerging as the dominant gang in Mumbai. In 1993, D-Company associates were accused of organizing the 1993 Bombay bombings., although Dawood denies any involvement to this day. In 1997, D-Company former member Abu Salem and Fazlur Rahman was responsible for the murder of T-Series founder and Bollywoodmusic producerGulshan Kumar. In 2011, Indian intelligence agencies managed to link Dawood Company with the 2G spectrum case, through DB Realty and DB Etisalat promoted by Shahid Balwa. Later in March, security at CBI headquarters in Delhi was tightened after it had been suggested that D-Company might launch an attack in an attempt to destroy documents relating to the ongoing probe of the 2G spectrum case. In 2015, a US Congressional report alleged that the D-Company was a "5,000-member criminal syndicate operating mostly in Pakistan, India, and the United Arab Emirates," which has a "strategic alliance" with ISI and has "forged relationships with Islamists, including Lashkar-e-Taiba and al-Qaida." However, the report had no political implications, and was mainly to brief lawmakers. In 2018, Dr Louise Shelley, Professor at the George Mason University, stated that the D-Company was now mainly based in Pakistan and had diversified its assets like Mexican drug organisations». Dawood was also wire-taped by Indian investigators who found out he had real estate assets in Dubai under someone else's name.
At times, Dawood Company has been linked to the Bollywood film industry, as well as real estate and betting businesses, from which it is said to derive considerable revenue. The 2002 filmCompany is based loosely on its activities, as well as its sequel D, Shootout at Lokhandwala, and Once Upon a Time in Mumbai. The 2013 film Shootout at Wadala is based on the rise of the D-Company. It also features in Salman Rushdie's 2018 novel The Golden House, where it is called Z-Company.
