An IPS officer involved in the extradition proceedings of Chhota Rajan from Indonesia to India today gave a detailed report on the underworld don's arrest to a special court.
Sonal Mohan Agnihotri, a senior police official, made the submission before Special CBI Judge Vinod Kumar and provided details of Rajan's extradition and arrest in Bali on the basis of a Red Corner Notice issued by the Interpol.
The officer was deposing as a prosecution witness in a fake passport case against Rajan and three former passport officers.
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The court, which fixed the matter for tomorrow for further proceedings, had earlier framed charges for alleged offences of cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy against Rajan and others in the case. The accused had pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.
The charges were framed against Rajan for allegedly procuring a fake passport in the name of Mohan Kumar with the help of three government officials, also accused in the case.
The court had ordered trial in the case on daily basis noting that Rajan was in judicial custody for a long period and trial should be started on a day-to-day basis.
Besides Rajan, the court also put on trial three retired public servants.
The four accused have been charged for alleged offences under sections 420 (cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 467(forgery of valuable security or will), 419(cheating by impersonation) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and section 12 (offences and penalties) of the Passport Act.
Besides this, the court framed charge against the retired public servants under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The CBI had earlier told the court that the government officials had conspired to issue the passport to Rajan in name of one Mohan Kumar, a non-existent person in complete violation of procedures.
It had told the court that Rajan, currently lodged in Tihar Jail under judicial custody, was accused in several cases of heinous nature involving charges of murder and extortion and when in 1995, a Red Corner Notice was issued against him, he had used a new identity to escape.
Rajan has denied the allegation that he used a fictitious identity with the help of fake passport to escape the law as he was accused in several cases of heinous nature.
According to another journalist, Rajan told him that Dey
was hand-in-glove with "traitors", and he killed Dey.
A close friend of Dey's told the investigators that Dey had told him that Rajan was calling him frequently. He found the gangster to be very "polite".
"I told him...One should be alert...Because dons are polite when they want to deceive someone," he told CBI.
On the day of the murder, Dey had told this witness on phone that Rajan had again spoken to him recently.
As Dey was worried about getting frequent calls from Rajan, the witness suggested that he should see if he had made any mistakes (so as to offend the gangster).
"Dey said so far he had done nothing wrong... But he had shared a very secret information with Vinod Chembur and from that day calls from Rajan increased," the witness said.
According to a police constable, who is a witness in the case, Chembur's son Sanjay told him Dey wanted to get Rajan killed and was supplying information to Dawood gang.
According to CBI, Rajan was upset with Dey over certain articles written by him, and also because Dey's planned book described Rajan as "chindi" (a small fry).
The book, 'Chindi -- Rags to Riches', was to tell stories of 20 gangsters with humble origins. It was supposed to describe Dawood, Rajan's friend-turned-foe, as being superior to the gangster.
Rajan was arrested at Bali airport in Indonesia on October 25 last year and deported to India.
The 300-page charge sheet against him was filed at the special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act court here last week.
The first charge sheet filed in the case in 2011 names Satiah Kaliya, Abhijeet Shinde, Arun Dake, Sachin Gaikwad, Anil Waghmode, Nilesh Shendge, Mangesh Agawane, Vinod Asrani, Paulson Joseph and Deepak Sisodia (all arrested).
Another charge sheet was filed against Vora next year. Accused of instigating Rajan against Dey owing to her own professional rivalry, she is currently on bail.
