The Kathmandu connection

The Delhi Police has chargesheeted Romesh Sharma for 8220;conspiring8221; to kill Beg8217;s arch-rival, Babloo Srivastava, to avenge his murder. Besides the facts on the deep-rooted rivalry between the gangs run by Dawood Ibrahim and Babloo Srivastava, the police have the taped conversations between Romesh Sharma and Dawood8217;s aide, Abu Salem, during which the possibilities of Babloo being killed in the Naini Jail, Allahabad were discussed.

Beg, an MP of the Rashtriya Prajatantra Party RPP had been the Minister for Housing and PhysicalTraining in the Girija Koirala government and for years, intelligence reports suggested he was assisting the Mumbai mafia in their activities 8212; terrorism, smuggling and hawala.

Eight months after Beg8217;s killing, there is growing concern about the Kathmandu connection resurfacing with reports that his confidant, Tahir Shah Tappoo is trying to revive and control his empire. But, Tappoo will apparently first have to contend with Beg8217;s nephew, Mirza Afzal Beg, who is also in the race for supremacy. A battle for turf is in the offing, since sources point out, the Nepalese operations are far too lucrative for Tappoo and Afzal Beg to let go.

Among the two, Tappoo is more infamous in criminal records. He is wanted for the murder of L.D. Arora, additional customs collector in Allahabad. 8220;He also has close links with many of the accused in Mumbai blasts case,8221; a senior intelligence officer said. Not much, however, is known about Afzal Beg, except that he was closely involved with his uncle8217;s operations.

Tappoo,said to be in his mid-20s, owns a gems and jewelry shop at Darbar Marg in Kathmandu and is said to have a wide circle of contacts in the police, customs and tax authorities. But the biggest problem for him is the lack of political protection. 8220;A person to successfully succeed Dilshad Beg needs political and criminal clout, and contacts in high places, a perfect mixture which nobody seems to have yet,8221; the official said.

Tappoo had been successfully handling the terrorist, hawala and smuggling operations even when Dilshad Beg was alive. Aiding terrorist activities included using Nepal as a route to send RDX, militants and arms across the border into India. Smuggling, especially of gold, was the most lucrative operation.

8220;Nepal imports hundreds of tonnes of gold and uses only a fraction of it. The rest of it is smuggled into India. Like gold, Nepal imports other things, only to be smuggled into India. They have no use in Nepal at all. These include ball bearings and plastic products. A monopoly on thesmuggling of these items is extremely profitable,8221; the intelligence officer said.

While arms, terrorists and gold were being smuggled into India through the Kathmandu-Bhairva route, replacing the original route via Raxole, currency was openly sent by air. On an average, an estimated amount of Rs 10 crore Indian Currency leaves Tribhuvan airport in Kathmandu everyday. And all this was earlier being controlled by Dilshad Beg. Naturally, Tappoo would want to get retain hold on the empire.

The battle for the spoils in Kathmandu comes at a time when the Indian intelligence agencies have reconstructed the events that led to Beg8217;s assassination. A confidential intelligence report on the killing, accessed by The Indian Express concludes that agencies have now 8220;established that the killing was planned and executed as a joint operation of Chota Rajan and Babloo Srivastava.8221;

Tappoo is believed to have helped them by telling them Beg8217;s whereabouts and the best time to strike. It was only Tappoo who knewthat Beg had decided to visit his second wife in Siphal, Chobhil area. The killers were waiting even before Beg reached there.

The intelligence report, which has helped the Delhi Police establish the motive for the plot Romesh Sharma was allegedly hatching to get even with Babloo Srivastava, lists three reasons why Beg was being targeted. Firstly, while Beg had initially helped Babloo Srivastava obtain a Nepalese passport, he did not come to his rescue when he was eventually arrested in Singapore in 1995. Babloo Srivastava8217;s Nepalese citizenship was cancelled and he was handed over to the Indian authorities. Following Babloo8217;s extradition to India, Beg is understood to have developed a 8220;close8221; relationship with one of his girlfriends, Archana Sharma, which also greatly annoyed Babloo.

Secondly, following Gulshan Kumar8217;s killing in Mumbai, the main hit-man Vikram Wahi 8212; a close associate of Babloo Srivastava 8212; had absconded to Kathmandu and his local hideout was raided by the Nepal police. Even as themodalities for Wahi8217;s surrender were being worked out, his dead body 8212; hacked into pieces 8212; was recovered at the Indo-Nepal border near Krishnanagar. Besides Babloo Srivastava, Wahi8217;s associates including Karan Singh Magga 8212; who was to eventually gun down Beg on June 29, 1998 along with Chota Ranjan8217;s associate, Rohit Verma 8212; harbored a grudge against him.

The third angle to the Nepal MP8217;s killing, the intelligence report states, related to Shafi Mohammad Khan of Krishnanagar who was arrested in a narcotics case by the Nepal Police in Mumbai. Like Babloo Srivastava, he too was of the view that Mirza had made no efforts to secure his release after arrest nor was he extended sufficient help during his trial.

This, along with the internecine gang wars between Chota Rajan and Dawood Ibrahim were the main reasons for Mirza8217;s murder. Chota Rajan is believed to have contacted Rohit Verma in Nepal to organise the killing and advised him not to strike in Kathmandu. Babloo Srivastava then contacted ShafiMohammad and gave him some money to arrange for a safe house in Kathmandu. Despite taking the money, Shafi was not able to find the place. The gang made its first attempt on Beg on June 27, 1998 and finally succeeded two days later when the MP was shot six or seven times before he finally collapsed, ending a bloody chapter of the Mumbai mafia8217;s free run in the Himalayan kingdom.