Bali/New Delhi : Chhota Rajan’s deportation from Bali may be delayed as a volcanic eruption has shut down the airport in the island leading to cancellation of all flights. Rajan was to be brought back to India tonight by a special chartered flight. Now the effort would be to put him on the plane at the earliest, possibly tomorrow, after the volcano stops spewing ash. He is likely to be flown to Delhi, not Mumbai, and will be in the CBI’s custody. While Rajan looks rather jaded, he has not lost some of his zing and alleged in the morning that “some people in the Mumbai Police” have links with underworld don and terrorist Dawood Ibrahim.
Giving clear indication that he is going to use his past association with Dawood as leverage to extract the best deal from the Indian authorities, Rajan also flaunted his ‘patriotic’ zeal by asserting that he will keep on fighting against terrorism and Dawood. “I am not scared of Dawood,” said Rajan, a once confidante of the fugitive gangster, the prime accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. “The government can keep me anywhere — Delhi or Mumbai. But there should be no injustice. All cases against me are false,” Rajan, who is wanted in over 75 heinous crimes ranging from murder, extortion to smuggling and drug trafficking, told reporters when asked whether he was afraid of returning to Mumbai.
The Mumbai Police refused to react to Rajan’s allegations, calling them the claims of a fugitive. But clearly Rajan is going to exploit his association with Dawood to the hilt and may even try to turn an ‘approver.’ That, of course, will not help him wriggle out of the numerous cases of extortion and murder in which he is wanted in Mumbai, said experts. The Indian team for the first time questioned him on Monday in the presence of the Indonesian police at the detention centre where he has been lodged for the last 10 days. Media reports have suggested that Rajan’s arrest is a part of a secret deal with the Indian agencies at a time his clout has eroded and the threat from Dawood is more potent than ever.
