Extradition process of Chhota Rajan’s aide stuck in red tape
The HinduEfforts to get gangster Chhota Rajan’s key lieutenant Santosh Mahadev Sawant alias Abu Sawant extradited have been stuck in red tape since 2015. This thanks to the extradition file going back and forth between the government and the CBI, which was handed over the case as early as on November 13, 2015, by the Detection Crime Branch, CID, Mumbai, following the deportation of Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan to India. The Union Home Ministry has now urged the agencies to speed up the proceedings to bring back the Singapore-based gangster, whose interrogation is crucial to unravelling Rajan’s extortion racket in Mumbai, and the betting businesses overseas, as per Ministry documents accessed by The Hindu. “As per the existing reports, I request you to correspond with the Joint Director, CBI, Mumbai, in connection to all process of extradition against Abu Sawant in the near future,” Joint Commissioner of Police, Ashotush Dumbare, wrote on February 26, 2019 in response to two reminders he received from the Home Ministry in 2018, which was confused over which agency was handling the proceedings.