Team of 5 collating information on Chhota Rajan

In a bid to ensure that gangster Chhota Rajan is convicted for his crimes, the Mumbai police crime branch has formed a team of five officials who have begun collating all the information related to his cases, spanning over 30 years. The team is prioritising the information on the basis of cases in which they have good evidence and where there are more chances of securing a conviction.

Joint commissioner of police, crime, Atul Kulkarni confirmed the formation of the team and had earlier stated that their top priority would be focusing on the Mcoca cases registered in the recent years against Rajan. The five-member team comprises CB officials from the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) and extradition cell.

In another development, in a short span of time, crime branch officials have updated the list of aides, henchmen, sympathisers of Rajan and are in the process of locating them. Some are convicted, others in jail, some are out on bail and some are untraceable. The list has names and details of about 353 persons, disclosed a CB source.

It is widely reported that both of Rajan’s kidneys have failed and answering an hypothetical question a senior police official said, “If convicted and given capital punishment, he can be hanged. His medical condition won’t come in the way of sending him to the gallows.”

IPS-turned-lawyer Y.P. Singh said, “It will be a big challenge for the crime branch to get Rajan convicted for his crimes. For example, Dawood’s brother Iqbal Kaskar got acquitted in the crime cases registered against him.”

The Asian Age also contacted chief information officer, CBI, Kanchan Prasad for a comment on whether Rajan would be deported or extradited from Indonesia, but the CBI has made it clear that they will not comment on the topic for some time.

Both approaches are possible as a senior official clarified that India does have an extradition treaty with Indonesia since 2011 and though deportation is a simple process, Indonesia may put forth hefty demands in exchange for it. Another hurdle in deportation is that Rajan is said to have a genuine Indian made passport from Karnataka that he made using fake documents. It is not clear who helped Rajan with the passport.