India: Chhota Rajan says some in Mumbai Police work in tandem with Dawood Ebrahim

Bali: Underworld don Chhota Rajan on Tuesday alleged that “some members” in the Mumbai Police have links with wanted terrorist Dawood Ebrahim, the prime accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, and said he will keep on fighting against him.

Rajan, who was arrested in popular tourist town of Bali on his arrival from Australia on October 25, was scheduled to be flown home later Tuesday, where he is wanted for up to 20 murders.

“The government can keep me anywhere — Delhi or Mumbai. But there should be no injustice done to me. All cases against me are false,” Rajan, who is wanted in more than 75 heinous crimes ranging from murder, extortion to smuggling and drug trafficking, told reporters when asked whether he was afraid of returning to Mumbai.

“Mumbai police has been unjust to me. Delhi government, taking note of that, should do justice to me,” he said.

An Indian team has been working with its Indonesian counterparts to take custody of Rajan.

The Indian team, comprising officers from CBI, Mumbai and Delhi police, arrived in Bali on Sunday with a dossier on 55-year-old Rajan and his involvement in various crimes in India.

The team for the first time questioned him on Monday in the presence of Indonesian police at the detention centre where he has been lodged for the last 10 days.

First Secretary (consular) in the Indian Embassy in Jakarta, Sanjeev Kumar Agrawal, who met Rajan for nearly half an hour on Sunday, was also present when the Indian team examined Rajan.

While being taken out of the detention centre, Rajan had said that Dawood is currently hiding in Pakistan under the direct patronage of ISI.

Mumbai Police has registered 20 murder cases against Rajan, four cases under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, one under Prevention of Terrorism Act and more than 20 cases under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act. Delhi Police has got six cases against him.

Rajan, whose original name is Rajendra Sadashiv Nikhalje, was arrested in Bali on the basis of a Red Corner Notice from Interpol and following a tip-off by Australian authorities to the police in Indonesia.

In 2000, there was an attempt on Rajan’s life when Dawood’s men tracked him down to a hotel in Bangkok but he managed a dramatic escape.

In the absence of an extradition treaty, the Indian authorities have already provided documents to their Indonesian counterparts about his Indian identity to facilitate his deportation.

Among other crimes, police accused Rajan in 2011 of ordering the murder of a prominent Mumbai crime reporter, who was gunned down in a drive-by shooting the same year.