Gangster Bannanje Raja brought back from Morocco

Raja was detained in Morocco on February 12, 2015, and authorities sought his extradition on the basis of an existing Interpol Red Corner Notice issued on India’s request. A team of police officials had travelled to Rabat in Morocco on August 10 after Moroccan authorities provided the green signal for the 47-year-old extradition. The nod from Morocco came after the Karnataka Police sent evidence pertaining to 16 crimes against Raja. The police translated thousands of pages of documents into French to facilitate his extradition.

“The efforts of the Karnataka Police and Indian authorities has resulted in the extradition of notorious criminal Bannanje Raja 18 years after he fled the country,’’ said a statement by Karnataka Police chief Om Prakash. Raja had been hiding in Morocco under the fake identity of Kumara Raja Hemanth Hegde. As many as 20 cases against Raja pertain to crimes committed while hiding abroad. He was earlier arrested in Dubai in 2009, but the extradition process was not successful.