Running from law, then finding safehouse in jail — similar mafia pattern in his story

Since early 1970s, Nikhalje saw himself being mentored by Rajan Nair, an established gangster in central suburbs of the then Bombay. Nair, also known as Bada Rajan, gave him the monicker Chhota Rajan and it stuck.

And hence, like in mafia worlds, when his mentor was killed in 1983, it was expected of Rajan to avenge his death.

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Officials still speak of the day when Kunju, the man who killed Nair was murdered by Rajan’s man named Sanjay Raggad. On the day of the murder, Kunju was in a Chembur playground playing a match. While there are various versions, depending on who you hear this story from, the official chargesheet speaks of a volleyball match in progress, where Raggad dressed in sports attire mingled with the playing team, and when finally he came close to Kunju, first slashed him with his knife and then pumped bullets into his body. The murder still is seen by the Mumbai police for the manner in which Rajan was persistent, with at least three attempts made on Kunju over a period of five years.

Kunju, who knew the underworld and the way it works, had then pleaded with the Mumbai police to book him for all the underworld killings against his name, knowing very well that with Rajan outside it would be difficult to get him on jail premises. There were at least two other attempts on him, while he was on his way to the hospital with police escorts and once when he was returning from a court hearing.

On Monday, when the news of his arrest trickled in, many recalled this episode. And like it always happens in mafia world, crime had come full circle. Many in uniform even hinted the fugitive was running for a safehouse.

With the last headlines on Rajan early this year, and as recent as August, screaming of attempts to murder him by Dawood Ibrahim aide Chhota Shakeel, and at least one report stating that sharpshooters had been sent all the way to Newcastle in Australia to kill him, it almost seems like Rajan is avoiding his playground.

Always a deputy, first to Rajan Nair and then Dawood Ibrahim, Rajan also comes at a time when his fort is weak, with most of his associates either languishing in jail or having betrayed him. Senior officials in Maharashtra Police and Mumbai Police still wonder why has “the lieutenant been called back so soon”, as a senior official texted saying “he was being profitably used and his arrest is a setback to efforts to counter the D gang”.

A senior official who was keeping the dossier on Rajan for the longest time said he suspected this to be nothing more than a “facilitated passage” by Indian agencies. Further, 55-year old Rajan who lost his mother this year, suffers from multiple ailments.

“Rajan suffers from a major kidney problem which has worsened further forcing him to undertake frequent travels to Singapore and Bangkok. He views his stay in the hospital as a major threat to him. He had communicated this to the agencies. He is the most vulnerable inside the hospital and therefore it seems the easiest to track him while on visit to these countries for arrest, something they have been negotiating for a while,” said a senior official. For Rajan to be tried in Indian courts will be the next move, but with murder cases, most a decade old, conviction in many will depend on the quality of witnesses, but all promise a good period languishing in jails, say defense lawyers.

With Rajan travelling between five countries this year alone, his movements were being chalked out by the D gang and the Indian agencies for a suitable exit, one wanting him dead, the other wanting him alive. While all the other three countries — two of which do not have extradition treaty — becoming difficult for India, the input was shared to Australia as it was the most recent country to have signed an extradition treaty with India under the new government with amended details. Sources confirmed that Rajan had a stronghold in Indonesia where he once ran a hotel with his former aide Santosh Shetty, who was deported from Thailand in 2011.

“One of the reasons for his stalemate with Shetty was because of their hotel business in Jakarta. Over the time, he has developed contacts in Indonesia and it was the best spot for the Indian agencies to assist a surrender,” said the official. While the arrest was made in Indonesia, it’s the Australian government with which the country will first work out the details of getting him deported to India.
rashmi.rajput@expressindia.com