Interview: Chhota Rajan's arrest accidental?

Bengaluru, Oct 30: It has been widely reported that one of the reasons for bringing Chhota Rajan down to India could be to elicit more information from him about Dawood Ibrahim.

The question is what information can he give in India which he could have done living abroad?

It has been said in several circles that Rajan was providing information about the D Gang to the Intelligence Bureau (IB) for very long and hence the pertinent question that needs to be asked is what extra can he provide now?

What could be the reason for the Indian Intelligence Agencies to take such keen interest in bringing Chhota Rajan to India?

V Balachandran, former officer with the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) says that the Intelligence Agencies are taking a major risk in this matter.

In this interview with OneIndia, Balachandran says that there is a major risk involved where Rajan's security is concerned in India.

Do you subscribe to the view that Rajan is being brought to India so that he can give information relating to Dawood?

This is an assessment done by the media. It is the media which has been saying that Rajan is being brought to India so that he can give information on Dawood Ibrahim.

Hence, in this context I also find it a bit surprising why Rajan is being brought down when the target all along was Dawood.

I would like to ask, what information can Rajan give when he has been on the run all these years from Dawood.

Do you think he surrendered?

I do not think so. According to me it was an accidental arrest in Bali.

This has led to a lot of firefighting by the Intelligence Agencies who do not want this to become a messy situation.

You had said that the IB is taking a major risk in this case. Why do you say that?

Rajan is under threat and there is no doubt about it. I would say it would be foolish to say that Rajan will be given fool proof security knowing the level of corruption in the prisons.

Hence, the IB according to me is taking a big risk. Rajan will remain vulnerable as he will have to be taken to court and medical check ups regularly.

There is a big responsibility ahead for the security agencies.

You have stated that this Chhota Rajan saga reminds you of a soap opera

I said this for a lot of reasons.

Firstly there was drama on television about this.

Secondly I was surprised that some former officials saying that Rajan once in India could give new leads on Dawood. The fact that the IB was in touch with Rajan was confirmed by former Home Secretary R K Singh in a television interview on Aug 23, 2015.

He had said that there was a covert operation planned to take down Dawood but the operation was compromised by some Mumbai police officials.

The Indian government had roped in some elements from the Chota Rajan gang and they were being trained at a secret location outside Maharashtra, he had also said.

Do you think the operation Rajan was a result of cooperation between India-Australia and Indonesia?

If Rajan had to be retrieved there were 100 other ways of doing it instead of trying to do things in the most convoluted manner.

Persuading Australia to send him to Bali and then expecting Indonesia to send him to India without questions being asked? Does this add up to you?

I am sure that our Intelligence Agencies are aware that India is no safe place for Rajan to hide. If it was all about getting information about Dawood, then was it necessary to bring him to India and de-brief him?

An officer of the Intelligence could have met him anywhere and sought the information.

OneIndia News