Gang wars between Chota Rajan and Dawood Ibrahim

Rajendra Sadashiv Nikhalje (Chotta Rajan's real name), was the sword arm of don Dawood Ibrahim till the two parted ways over the latter’s role in the Bombay blasts. Differences had arisen in 1992 itself after Dawood henchman Subhash Thakur killed three Chhota Rajan groupies. But after the blasts, they fell out compeletely, with Rajan positioning himself as a ‘patriotic don’ not wanting to betray his country, and challenging the hegemony of Dawood as a “people’s gangster”. Over a hundred men have been eliminated in five years since the inter-gang rivalry started in Mumbai. Some top D Company sharp shooters like Mohan Kuttian, Sadhu Shetty and Jaspal Singh too abandoned ship along with Chhota Rajan, who fled Dubai, Dawood’s stronghold, after the bitter parting of ways. Turf battles in Mumbai took the shape of tit-for-tat killings. In June 1995, the D Company killed hotelier Ramanath Payyade, who paid protection money to Chhota Rajan. Earlier, they killed film producer Mukesh Duggal, who was reportedly an associate of Chhota Rajan. The latter served notice of his challenge to Dawood’s supremacy by killing ace sharp-shooter Sunil Sawant in August. Dawood’s retribution was swift and brutal. He got builder O P Kukreja, Chhota Rajan’s friend, gunned down. The challenger responded by getting East West Airlines managing director, Thakiyuddin Wahid, bumped off by hired killers in November 1995. But the most sensational killing was that of Mirza Dilshad Beg, Nepal MP and one time minister, who was reportedly a point man for Dawood in Nepal. In triumphant interveiws to the media, Rajan claimed the scalp and said that the Indian intelligence agencies were aware of the plan to kill Beg, who was wanted by India for subversive activity.

Chota Rajan is believed to have assisted intelligence agencies in getting a low down on the activities of the D Company and its members using his intimate knowledge of the gang and its operations. To demonstrate his claims of being a Hindu don, Rajan threatened to kill those accused of engineering the Bombay bomb blasts. The most prominent accused to be killed was Saleem Kurla in April 1998, followed by Mohammad Jindran in June 1998 and Majid Khan on March 1, 1999. The D Company retaliated by killing Shiv Sena pramukh Mohammad Saleem. The Shiv Sena, which ruled Maharashtra along with the BJP from 1994 to 1999, is believed to have a soft corner for the ‘Hindu Don’. It is alleged that selective police action against the Dawood gangsters during the Shiv Sena regime and their elimination in encounters helped strengthen Rajan’s position, just as Dawood himself had benefitted in the 1980s. The Sena laid bare its affection for Chota Rajan in an editorial in Saamna, its mouthpiece, edited by Bal Thackeray. The editorial heaved a sigh of relief, attributing Chota rajan’s survival to “good fortune’’. Saamna alleges that Pakistani ISI was behind the move to kill Chota Rajan. [http://www.ketan.net/art1_13.html]

References