Underworld don Chhota Rajan, who has been arrested after being on the run for over two decades, on Wednesday claimed that he did not surrender and wants to return to India.
There is intense speculation that the arrest of the gangster, who is wanted in over 75 heinous crimes ranging from murder, extortion to smuggling and drug trafficking, was part of a “deal” with Indian security agencies.
“I never surrendered. I want to go back to India. Don’t want to go to Zimbabwe,” the one-time trusted aide of terrorist and crime boss Dawood Ibrahim told reporters.
Rajan, one of India’s most wanted gangsters, was arrested in this popular Indonesian tourist destination on a Red Corner Notice issued by Interpol after eluding law enforcement agencies for over two decades.
Out of these 75 cases, Rajan is facing four cases under Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, one under Prevention of Terrorism Act and over 20 cases under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act.
A squad of Mumbai Police Crime Branch would be part of the team which will travel to Bali to bring back underworld don Chhota Rajan and would also brief the Union home ministry on the process of documenting the offences committed by the gangster.
Mumbai Police spokesperson Dhananjay Kulkarni said, “One officer from our force has left for Delhi today, who would be briefing home ministry with reference to the communique made to us on Tuesday.”
The Union home ministry had asked Mumbai Police to make a detailed documentation of the offences committed by the arrested fugitive in his home turf where he is wanted in over 75 cases including suspected role in murder of investigative journalist J Dey.
Following the directives, the Crime Branch had formed a team to compile the history of the 55-year-old gangster, who had been on the run for two decades.
On whether the officer concerned was going to Delhi along with the dossier, Kulkarni refused to divulge any details.
However, according to another officer, privy to the developments, documenting a big dossier would take time but a squad of Mumbai Police Crime Branch would be part of the team which would go to Bali to bring back Rajan.
The sources are tight-lipped about the exact arrangements to bring him back because of security concerns arising out of his fierce rivalry with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his gang.
They said agencies are working on more than one plan to bring back 55-year-old Rajan, once known as Dawood’s right hand man, factoring various permutations and combinations.
Rajan was travelling with the identity of Mohan Kumar with passport number G9273860 when he was apprehended at the airport, after arriving there on a Garuda Indonesia flight GA715, by the Indonesian Police on a tip off from Australian authorities, they said.
The sources said Rajan was in touch with various police officials for last six months seeking a passage to return to India as he feared for his life in Australia from Chhota Shakeel, a henchman of Dawood.
In 2000, there was an attempt on his life when Dawood’s men tracked him down to a hotel in Bangkok but he managed a dramatic escape through the hotel’s roof.
According to serving and former police officers, who have dealt with the Mumbai underworld, arrest of Rajan is a major success and his questioning is expected to shed light on hitherto unknown facts related to cases linked to his syndicate.
Image: Gangster Chhota Rajan being taken for interrogation in Denpasar in Bali after his arrest.
