Ready to handle cases against Chhota Rajan: Mumbai top cop

Mumbai: Mumbai Police are fully prepared to deal with all the cases involving underworld don Chhota Rajan even as it briefed the Union Home Ministry of the steps being taken in the matter.

"The fact is that he has been arrested on our Red Corner notice and he is wanted in so many cases. Mumbai Police are fully prepared to deal with all the cases pertaining to his involvement in different crimes", Police Commissioner Javed Ahamed said while addressing the India Today conclave.

He, however, parried questions from the audience whether this development could subsequently lead to the arrest of don-cum-terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, also one of the most wanted persons in India.

An officer from Mumbai Crime Branch on Thursday briefed Union Home Ministry officials on the process of documenting the offences committed by Rajan.

The Union Home Ministry had asked Mumbai Police to make a detailed documentation of the offences committed by the arrested fugitive in India where he is wanted in over 75 cases including suspected role in murder of investigative journalist J Dey.

Following the directives, the Crime Branch had formed a team to compile the history of the 55-year-old gangster who had been on the run for two decades.

On whether the officer concered was going to Delhi along with the dossier, Mumbai Police spokesman Dhananjay Kulkarni refused to divulge any details.

However, according to another officer, privy to the developments, documenting a big dossier would take time but a squad of Mumbai Police Crime Branch would be part of the team which would go to Bali, Indonesia, to bring back Rajan.

The one-time trusted aide of terrorist and crime boss Dawood Ibrahim, Rajan is wanted in scores of criminal offences ranging from murder and extortion to smuggling and drug trafficking.

The cases in which Rajan's involvement is suspected to include the murder of J Dey in June 2011. Out of the 75 cases Rajan is facing, four are registered under Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), one under Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) and over 20 cases under stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

Apart from compiling records of over 75 criminal cases against Rajan, a police team is also documenting the fine-prints of each case, evidences available and status of each of them in different courts, not only in Mumbai city but also in Navi Mumbai and Pune where the offences have been registered.

Kulkarni, who heads the crime branch of Mumbai Police, said the documents would be presented to the state government as well as and Union Home Ministry to be be furnished subsequently to Indonesian counterparts for Rajan's return after translating them into English and Bahasa Indonesia, the official language of Indonesia.