‘‘Nana bol raha hoon. Jai Hind (This is Nana speaking). The voice was even and friendly—like calls before—and unmistakeably of a self-proclaimed ‘patriot’ don, Chhota Rajan. The call came at 11.30 pm on Friday on a The Indian Express reporter’s cellphone, flashing ‘‘no number’’, indicating a masked private number.‘‘Yeh kya baatcheet chal rahi hain (What is all this talk)?’’‘‘Kaunsi (which)?,’’ asked the reporter.‘‘The news that I’ve joined with Dawood Ibrahim,’’ said Rajan, switching to good English, referring to a TV report.‘‘It’s a conspiracy,’’ continued Rajan. ‘‘Joining hands with the Dawood gang would mean compromising with the enemy. I would rather die.’’The brief phone call appears to be an effort made by Rajan to end whispers of a rapproachment with one-time friend Dawood. The whispers come after Rajan’s incarcerated lieutenant D.K. Rao was seen talking to Dawood’s younger brother, Iqbal Kaskar, when the duo were in the same police van heading for court proceedings.
