Hidden Hand Of The Law

Mumbai's 'patriotic don' could be behind the recent killings, with official backing, reports RANA AYYUB

Shootout The Bhendi Bazar area of Mumbai after the failed attack on Asif Dadhi on February 13

HE SAYS he has murdered at least seven of the accused in the 1993 Mumbai blasts while they were out on bail. It's an open secret that in 1998 - allegedly at the behest of Indian intelligence agencies - he also had Nepalese MP Mirza Dilshad Baig killed. His name is Chhota Rajan. Baig, with reported links to the underworld, was becoming an eyesore for the IB. To eliminate its target, the IB is said to have used its favourite trump card, the Chhota Rajan gang. Rajan's association with the IB grew after he escaped death at the hands of assassins hired by former mentor Dawood Ibrahim in Bangkok in 2000. Subsequently, he started wiping out members of the 'D Company', establishing his image as a 'patriotic don'.

Fast forward to the present. On February 7 this year, Jamin Shah, Mirza Dilshad Baig's successor and owner of a Nepalese television network, was shot dead. On February 11, Shahid Azmi, prominent human rights and criminal lawyer, was gunned down. On February 13, Asif Khan alias Asif Dadhi was shot but escaped narrowly. A known associate of Chhota Rajan, Bharat Nepali has taken responsibility for both murders, while the attackers of Asif Dadhi have not yet been identified, sources in the Mumbai Police say that it bore the handiwork of a 'Dawood rival'. They also claim that criminal gangs are attempting to "prove their patriotism" by targeting people who could be dubbed anti-national, thus acting in the interests of intelligence agencies. In some cases, the relationship between the gangs and the agencies is said to be closer: Members of Chhota Rajan's gang claim that earlier attempts on Jamin Shah's life were made at the behest of Military Intelligence.

Business as usual A file photograph of Chhota Rajan

IN A chilling phone call to Jamin Shah's news channel the night he was murdered, Bharat Nepali warned, "anyone who goes against India will meet the same fate". Four days later, Shahid Azmi, the lawyer of Faheem Ansari, co-accused in the 26/11 and the 7/11 Mumbai terror attack cases, was murdered. Azmi had managed to disprove several police allegations against Ansari. Bharat Nepali claimed responsibility for this attack as well. Chhota Rajan's closest aides admitted in a conversation with TEHELKA that Nepali had been staying in Tilak Nagar, Mumbai, a few metres from Rajan's residence, in the run-up to Azmi's murder.

While Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria declined to comment, a senior police officer stated, on condition of anonymity, that, "It's no coincidence that those claiming responsibility for Shahid Azmi's killing - Ravi Pujari, Bharat Nepali or Santosh Shetty - are either ex-Rajan men or are working at his behest." For their part, on February 16, the police detained three associates of Nepali, two of whom have worked with Rajan.

Bharat Nepali, common link in the attacks on Shah and Azmi, was inducted into the mafia by Rajan after they met in Bangkok in 2000. He was present at Rajan's hospital bed after an attempt on the don's life. For some time now, Rajan is supposedly being coaxed by the agencies to make a return. He is hesitant as the MCOCA case against his wife Sujata Nikalje is still alive. Perhaps for this reason, though he is said to have arranged the murders, he is loath to claim credit.

rana@tehelka.com