Chhota Rajan to be brought to New Delhi, CBI to get initial custody

Security agencies have decided to bring arrested gangster Chhota Rajan in New Delhi with CBI keeping him in custody for initial period before any other police force is allowed to take him for their respective investigations. Sources said it has been decided that Rajan will not be taken directly to Mumbai from Indonesia, where he was arrested last week.

Security arrangements are being beefed up at the agency headquarters where Rajan is likely to be kept with regular security drills being carried out to identify any possible loop hole in the security apparatus, they said.

The sources said the decision to bring Rajan here was taken during meetings of various stakeholders including CBI, central security agencies and Delhi and Mumbai Police. On Tuesday too a meeting of senior officials of Delhi Police Special Cell and CBI took place, they said adding that that during the one-hour long meeting various aspects related to transport and security of Rajan were discussed.

They said the agency team is waiting for the first available window to bring back the ganglord as ash cloud arising of volcano eruptions near Bali have halted flight operations from there. The sources said as soon as the flight operations start the team will move out with Rajan.

Rajan, who was arrested in Bali on his arrival from Australia on October 25, is wanted in over 75 heinous crimes ranging from murder, extortion to smuggling and drug trafficking. Rajan, whose original name is Rajendra Sadashiv Nikhalje, was arrested in Bali on the basis of a Red Corner Notice from Interpol and following a tip off by Australian authorities to the police in Indonesia.

In the absence of an extradition treaty, Indian authorities have already provided documents to their Indonesian counterparts about his Indian identity to facilitate his deportation.

In 2000, there was an attempt on Rajan's life when his arch rival and India's most wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim's men tracked him down to a hotel in Bangkok but he managed a dramatic escape. The Indian team, comprising officers from CBI, Mumbai and Delhi police, had arrived in Bali on Sunday with a detailed dossier on 55-year-old Rajan and his involvement in various crimes in India.