E-Paper
Chhota Rajan lone occupant of CBI’s AC lockup cell in Delhi
The living space of Mumbai gangster Chhota Rajan, 55, is a large air-conditioned cell with an attached bathroom and a toilet while he lies on the floor, a blanket by his side, when not being interrogated.
He is the sole occupant of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)’s lockup cells’ block. The living space of Mumbai gangster Chhota Rajan, 55, is a large air-conditioned cell with an attached bathroom and a toilet while he lies on the floor, a blanket by his side, when not being interrogated.
The complex is guarded by commandos toting AK-47 assault rifles and trained in the Israeli hand-tohand combat technique — Krav Maga — as well as bomb-detection-and-disposal teams with sniffer dogs.
The CBI is taking such elaborate steps to protect Rajan from ‘threats’, including his fugitive rival gangster Dawood Ibrahim.
“Rajan has been kept in a large lockup cell, approximately 20 feet by 10 feet, which is air-conditioned as is the rest of the building. The cell has an attached toilet–cum-bathroom,” said the source.
The CBI may set up a special probe team, drawing officers from its special crime zone led by joint director Nina Singh, once the Maharashtra police hands over the 75-odd cases registered against Rajan to the CBI as per the state’s decision.
The CBI has taken Rajan in custody for ten days in a passport fraud case, while there is one more such case pending with the agency against him since 2002.
To supplement the measures, the agency has adopted a need-to-know protocol for agency officials for matters related to Rajan.
“Only case investigators or interrogators can visit Rajan in his lockup, nobody else,” said the source. The two-lane road outside the headquarters has sand bags stacked up near yellow metallic barricades, while CISF’s bomb-detection and disposal-squad with sniffer dogs surveys crevices and drain pipes along the road.
