Mumbai mafia don Chhota Rajan, who was wounded in a Bangkok shootout earlier this month wants to fly back to India immediately, the Bangkok post newspaper on Sunday said.
Chhota Rajan, alias Vijay Daman, told Bangkok police that he
wanted to return on Monday to India, the English-language daily
reported.
Rajan was wounded in the stomach and arms in a gangster-style
shootout September 15 at the apartment of his associate Rohit
Verman, alias Michael D'souza.
Verman died in the assault, carried out by seven or eight pistol-
wielding assassins, and his wife, Sikandi Hama, was wounded.
Bombay interpol has reportedly requested Rajan's extradition, but
the Indian government has not officially made the request.
Thailand and India have not signed an extradition treaty.
Police Major General Chaktip Kunchorn Na Ayutthaya, assistant Bangkok Police chief, told the Bangkok Post that his officers were looking for legal grounds to detain Rajan, who is currently
undergoing medical treatment at an undisclosed hospital. Rajan has
not committed any crimes in Thailand that police there know of.
Rajan told Chaktip he wished to return to Bombay.
But in an exclusive interview with a rival daily, The Nation,
Rajan was less definite about his travel plans.
In response to whether he wished to return to India, Rajan said,
''Of course, but I cannot say when.''
Rajan is believed to be a former member of Dawood Ibrahim's gang in Bombay but split with the group in 1993 after a series of bomb blasts in Hindu temples.
Bureau Report
