Rajan, 3 others convicted in fake passport case
A Delhi court on Monday convicted noted gangster Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan and three others in a fake passport case.
Rajan had allegedly procured a fake passport in the name of Mohan Kumar with the help of three government officials- Jayashree Dattatray Rahate, Deepak Natvarlal Shah and Lalitha Lakshmanan- working at Regional Passport Office (RPO), Bangalore.
The court will on Tuesday hear arguments on the quantum of sentence to be awarded to the convicts.
The Central Bureau of Investigation had alleged that during 1998-1999, accused Chhota Rajan entered into criminal conspiracy with Rahate, Shah and Laxmanan to fraudulently procure an Indian passport in the fictitious name of Mohan Kumar, on the basis of fake and fabricated documents so as to conceal his identity.
Rajan was deported to India after his arrest in Bali in 2015 to face trial in over 70 cases of murder, extortion and drug smuggling in Delhi and Mumbai. He is currently lodged in Tihar Jail.
While pronouncing the judgment, the court observed that accused Rahate, Shah and Lakshmanan abused their position as public servants while accepting application for re-issue of Rajan’s passport that had false name and address.
The court also noted that Rajan had twice got passports issued in the name of
Mohan Kumar, first from the Regional Passport Office at Bangalore and then from Consulate General of India, Sydney, Australia.
The court on March 28 reserved its judgement in the case in which Chhota Rajan allegedly procured a fake passport in the name of Mohan Kumar with the help of the three government officials.
Lakshmanan had approached the high court to transfer to Bengaluru her trial in the case but the petition was rejected on January 9 on the ground that a district court here could also hear the matter.
Deported after being on the run for 27 years, the 55-year old gangster, once a close aide of fugitive terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, was brought to India to face trial in over 70 cases of murder, extortion and drug smuggling in Delhi and Mumbai.