Bali Police Commissioner Reinhard Nainggolan confirmed that Rajan, the powerful aide-turned-rival of terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, repeatedly pleaded before the interrogators to free him as he wanted to go to Zimbabwe.
Major Reinhard said that,”When we took him for interrogation, initially, he refused to accept that he was Chhota Rajan. He kept on flashing his passport which mentioned his name as Mohan Kumar.But, later confessed that he indeed is Chhota Rajan”.
Rajendra Nikalje, widely known as Chhota Rajan, has been on Interpol’s wanted list since 1995 for running a crime syndicate that engaged in extortion, arms smuggling and contract killing.
The CID official further quoted Rajan as saying, “There is a threat to my life in India, please take me to Zimbabwe.”
Chhota Rajan, one of the India’s most wanted gangsters, was arrested in the tourist town of Bali, Indonesia, on a Red Corner Notice issued by Interpol after eluding law enforcement agencies for over two decades.
Sinha said that, “We tracked Chhota Rajan’s movements closely and informed the police in Indonesia and Australia. Eventually the Indonesian police managed to arrest him. We are making arrangements to bring him to India and pursue all criminal cases against him.”
Rajan’s arrest has come at a time when the Modi government is stepping up diplomatic pressure on Pakistan to hand over his former partner and underworld boss, Dawood Ibrahim, suspected of militant links. Dawood masterminded India’s deadliest bombings, which killed at least 250 people and wounded more than 700 in Mumbai in 1993.
According to the sources ,tightlipped about the exact arrangements to bring him back because of security concerns arising out of his fierce rivalry with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his gang.