The great chase begins

Chhota Rajan’s enmity with the original don, Dawood Ibrahim, was a subject not only discussed or debated but also provided fodder to novelists and film-makers in Bollywood. Their close association ended in bitter fallout. This separation gave rise to many gang wars, conflicts, and divided interests between the two gangsters. On the one end, the Interpol along with global intelligence agencies hoped both would bump each other off, whereas on the other, the conflict between the two sides only led to violence causing harm to the innocent. This was when certain agencies got together to spy on the larger wanted figure of Dawood. Though Pakistan has denied any hand in providing asylum to Dawood, there are strong allegations that his crime syndicate has found refuge in the country. Moreover, much speculation has emerged over the years that Rajan had indeed become a chief informer on the D-company’s activities.

If Rajan had provided key information to India’s intelligence agencies for years, why would they change their attitude to an informer out of the blue? Rajan, who was once regarded as an “asset”, is now possibly on the verge of facing severe penalties for his various crimes. There are some possible reasons for this change in attitude. Some of the more significant ones could be the possible threat to Rajan’s life. His death would have brought an end to the inflow of intelligence. As a result, as some have speculated, Indian agencies intend to protect him behind bars. The other obvious one could be the upper limit of all possible information that could be offered by Rajan to the agencies and hence, it was time to eliminate this gangster as well. It is rumoured that Chhota Shakeel had his eye set on Rajan and there were hitmen surrounding him in Australia. The officials in Australia were clear about the fact that they were not comfortable with a gangster of  Rajan’s and Shakeel’s calibre on their soil and wanted to avoid bloodshed. It is also believed that the D-company had cornered Rajan. A cook and his right-hand man who handled  Rajan’s travel plans are said to have tipped off Shakeel on his presence. This was discovered when Indian agencies trailing Dawood Ibrahim intercepted a telephonic conversation where there were apparent conversations between the cook and Shakeel about Rajan’s whereabouts. The conversation allegedly revealed that Rajan had earlier lived in South Asia, Africa, and Australia. Such information, however, establishes the extent of their organised crime syndicate. Their illegal businesses pan across continents harming the world in totality.

Although Rajan was once an ally to Indian intelligence agencies, his activities do not justify any sympathy. Throughout his career the 55-year-old criminal was part of illicit activities including some murders. Now with Chhota Rajan finally captured, India can finally strengthen their case against Pakistan and their alleged hush-hush refugee, Dawood Ibrahim. The secrets behind the 1993 bomb blast are now at stake. Indians will now hope that finally someone will talk to the court more openly about the whole plan and execution. Gangsters like Shakeel and long lost Tiger Memon might also come out of the shadow. Though there have been a number of rumours about the latter’s death, there hasn’t been any evidence to support it. However, with Rajan’s capture there lies a possibility of getting to the bottom of the syndicate. The capture of this gangster is an achievement. With Rajan’s future testimony, it shouldn’t be too ambitious to consider that Dawood Ibrahim, too, is well on his way to India.