CBI seeks Mumbai cops’ support to investigate Chhota Rajan files

Mumbai police allot a team of 35 officers to probe and prosecute gangster

It was touted as a major success for the central government when it managed to successfully extradite fugitive underworld mafioso Chhota Rajan from Indonesia in November last year. The victims of his dirty plots over the years expected that the underworld gangster would finally be prosecuted.

The CBI brought Chhota Rajan to India via deportation from Indonesia --- on November 6, 2015 --- where he was arrested by local authorities on the basis of a pending Interpol Red Corner notice against him. (Reuters file photo)

But it has been five months and there has been practically no specific move which shows that the central government, which entrusted the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe all the 71 cases against the gangster, is interested in prosecuting the gangster.

In fact, Mumbai police, which had first sought Rajan’s custody, were rebuffed sighting that the police force consisted of informants of his archrival and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, and that the transfer of Rajan’s custody to Mumbai could be potentially life threatening.

The five months that the CBI has had Rajan’s custody, the central agency has called for documents of only the J Dey murder case where Rajan allegedly had claimed, in various telephonic interviews to media houses, that he had given the contract to kill the former journalist.

Of the remaining cases, the CBI has just taken the basic FIR copies from the Mumbai police, which has gone ahead to translate documents in Marathi to English in at least 30 of the 71 cases.

What is of significance is that the CBI, which is to probe and prosecute Rajan, had deployed just four officers — two deputy superintendents of police (DySPs) and two inspectors in Mumbai — who have to live out of the police officers’ mess at Worli and have to travel in hired cabs across the city, said sources.

Neither have these officers been given an official accommodation, nor logistic support such as vehicles to carry out the investigation or basic stationery to ensure that they could gather or draft documents to prosecute Rajan. Interestingly, the central agency has sought for Mumbai police’s help to probe Rajan.

And the Mumbai police, with little space to confront the central agency, have allotted a team of 35 officers to gather witnesses, complainants, evidence and documents related to Rajan’s case, which has rubbed many of the officers in the wrong way, said sources in the city police.

SOME MAJOR CASES AGAINST RAJAN

BR Shetty attempt to murder case and MCOCA: 2012

JD murder and MCOCA: 2011

Asif Sayyed murder case: 2011

Shakil Modak and Irfan double-murder case: 2010

Chhote Miya murder case: 2009

Kamal Jain extortion and MCOCA case: 2005

Hanif Kadawala murder case and MCOCA: 2001

Jaya Shetty murder case and MCOCA: 2001

Ashraf Patel murder case: 2000

Abdul Gani firing case and MCOCA: 1999

Anil Kumar Sharma murder case and MCOCA: 1999

Bala Gopal Kotian murder case: 1998

Datta Samant murder case: 1997

Jayprakash Tawade murder case: 1997

Sayyad Farid Maqbool firing case: 1996

Shamsunder Raj murder case: 1995

Mukesh Bharatraj Mota murder case and TADA: 1993

Ashok Krishna Shetty murder case and TADA: 1993

Builder Sitaram Kochrekar threat for ransom and TADA: 1993

KT Thapa murder and TADA case: 1992

John Joseph Pareira (fisherman) murder case: 1983

Anthony Fernandis (tyre businessman attempt to murder): 1980