Hope he will be brought here, he should face trial: D Sivanandan

Chhota Rajan Arrested: The Inside Story And What Next? (click here)

One of those credited for ending the reign of the underworld in the financial capital, Sivanandan tells The Indian Express in an interview that it is never too late to arrest a don. Excerpts:

Much is being written about a famous trip you made to Bangkok to get Chhota Rajan back. What do you remember of that chase?

I didn’t go to Thailand. I never met him. I never even spoke to him on the phone. I did send an Assistant Commissioner of Police rank officer and one or two officers along with him. They were at his bedside in a hospital in Bangkok and tried to persuade him.

What was the brief you gave your officers?

I wanted them to go and speak to him (Rajan). The message was clear. He should come back to Mumbai and subject himself to the Indian judicial system and inquiry, and face trial.

What was the response?

The response was positive in the beginning. But later he changed his mind, because of various reasons. I am sure lot of other people would have also had access to him.

This was at a time when gangsters’ operations were still busy. What do you recall of the time?

I was joint commissioner of police (Crime) at that time. The period we are talking of is 1998 to 2001. He was shot in September 2000. I was then in Mumbai trying to control organised crime activities. In 1998, there were 93 incidents in which gangsters shot at 101 businesspersons. Business had come to a halt.

Marriages were not taking place. They had shot important business people over a period of time, including Gulshan Kumar, Om Prakash Kukreja, Natwarlal Shah, Sunit Khatau. Mumbai had come to a grinding halt because extortion was as its peak. We too started our response. This was why we felt the need, when an opportunity arose, to interact with him (Chhota Rajan).

How big a catch is Chhota Rajan today?

I am speaking as a citizen and an ex-police commissioner. The arrest of every criminal, whether active or not, is important. What is his potential sitting in a foreign country cannot be known to anyone frankly.

So much is made of Rajan’s rivalry with the D-gang and the intelligence agencies using this to their advantage. Your comments.

Only the intelligence agencies who are using these men can affirmatively speak about this. Because every intelligence operation is on a need to know basis. Those people who were running him would be the only ones to answer regarding how far he was used.

Any last comments?

All these things are like a circle and it has to come to an end. When it begins, it has to end. I hope he will be brought here. He should face trial. The same end should happen to the other fellow (Dawood Ibrahim) also. In my opinion everything should be done expeditiously, otherwise this fellow will sit in jail and rule the roost.