Karnataka to get underworld don Bannanje Raja from Morocco

Bengaluru: Notorious underworld don Bannanje Raja from Karnataka, who was arrested in February this year in Casablanca in Morocco in an alleged fake passport case will be deported to India in a week's time, said Director General & Inspector General of Police Om Prakash.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had earlier notified the Interpol to issue a Red Corner Notice (RCN) against Raja, who has around 48 criminal cases of murder, attempt to murder, kidnap and extortion against him in the State including the December 2013 supari killing of BJP leader and mining businessman R.N. Nayak in Ankola in broad daylight.

Bannanje was allegedly hiding in Morocco with the moniker Kumar Hemanth Hegde and was given away by a Dubai-based hotelier Praveen Shetty, who filed a police complaint after he refused to give into Raja's extortion calls. Shetty is originally from Udupi. Raja, who was tracking Shetty, called him in Dubai and he recorded the don’s call.

In a cross country investigation, Dubai and Moroccan police assisted by India's Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW) and Internal Security Division of Karnataka learnt that Hegde was one of India's most wanted underworld dons.

His wife, who was also in Dubai on a fake passport of Sona Hegde, was under the radar. Her travel records confirmed that she was with Raja in Casablanca on New Year's Eve and this further confirmed Raja's location. In 2009 he was arrested in Dubai, again in a fake passport case, but he was not extradited because India doesn't have an extradition treaty with Dubai.

“We don't have an extradition treaty with Morocco as well,” said an official source. Bananje is said to be close to notorious fugitive underworld dons Dawood Ibrahim and Chota Rajan and is a nightmare for police and his victims, majority of who are businessmen and prominent real estate people. Out of the 48 cases involving extortion, murder and Arms Act pending against him in Karnataka, nine are from Bengaluru City in J.J. Nagar, Upparpet, Banashankari and Mico Layout.

Bannanje's original name is Rajendra Kumar. Son of Sundar Shettigar of Bannanje in Udupi, he showed signs of rowdyism at an early age. “He was a student ruffian and began his crime career as an extortionist before graduating on to murder, kidnap and possessing illegal arms,” said Gopal Hosur, former Intelligence chief. The first case against Bannanje was registered during the college elections in 1989.

According to police records Bannanje became big in the underworld after murdering Kokkane Kushala Shetty in 1991 and the end of terror reign of rowdy Parkala Devadas Shetty in Udupi. He reportedly left for Dubai in 1994-95.

Extradition, a first for state cops

In a first of its kind, the state police have successfully managed to get notorious fugitive Bannanje Raja extradited from Morocco to India. A six-member team, headed by C.H. Pratap Reddy, Additional Commissioner of Police (West) Bengaluru, is proceeding to Morocco to bring Raja back to the state to face trial in various courts.

During the course of the investigation into R.N. Nayak's murder case, the probe team, with the help of central intelligence agencies, got information about Bannanje Raja’s arrest in Morocco in February this year and passed on the information to the Interpol. Later, Interpol Rabat of Morocco confirmed his arrest. A provisional arrest request was sent to the Moroccan authorities to retain the fugitive in their custody. Later within the prescribed time limit, documents related to R.N. Nayak's murder and 15 other cases were sent.

Later an official extradition request was sent to Morocco through the CBI - Interpol Wing, Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Embassy in Morocco. It was a challenge for the state police to ready the documents, which ran up to 1,000 pages, translate them into English and then to French within the 30-day deadline.

“The proceedings for the extradition were conducted by the highest court of Morocco. The court agreed for extradition request on May 6. A criminal decree was passed by Morocco on June 15,” the office of Director General of Police Om Prakash stated.

BR Company terrorised city businessmen

Bannaje Raja, 47, was also arrested for rape of a college student in Udupi and after getting bail, he started indulging in criminal activities such as extortion from his victims, belonging to Brahmavara, Malpe and Udupi.

After shifting his operations from Mangaluru to Bengaluru, his associates struck terror in the city. They used to collect the contact details and other information of important public figures and other businessman, who could succumb to his pressures for paying up hafta (extortion money). The gang members used to get in touch with victims using Voice Over Internet Protocol and other mobile phone technology.

Cases of murders, extortion and use of illegal fire arms were reported against him and his gang members in the city. In the year 1995, he was arrested by J.J. Nagar police in an Arms Act case, but he continued with his illegal activities after securing bail. Bannanje Raja also ran his organised crime syndicate, B.R. Company, and continued with extortion activities even after leaving India.

The police came to know about B.R. Company, while investigating the R.N. Nayak murder case. For the first time the Karnataka Control of Organised Crime Act 2000 (KCOCA) was invoked to put an end to the nefarious activities of this gang and send a stern message to other underworld operatives.

More than 20 cases were filed against Bannanje Raja, when he was operating from outside India. Cases against him were registered in Tiwaripur police station in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, and Karakachalla police station in Kottayam, Kerala, both cases were registered in 2013.