When crime lord Chhota Shakeel offered to surrender, government refused

By NewsGram Staff Writer

Dawood Ibrahim, listed at the third number in Forbes magazine's 2011 list of top eleven dreaded criminals of the world and wanted by the Interpol for a variety of crimes is one of the most notorious crime lords of India. US too has labelled him as a global criminal because of his loose links to Al-Qaeda and other terrorist outfits. After the 1993 Mumbai bombings, he has become one of the most sought after criminals of India.

A leading national daily recently published an interview of his right hand man, Chhota Shakeel alias Shakeel Babumiya Shaikh.

NewsGram brings you the top revelations from this interview.

1. Chhota Shakeel and co. have been targeting Chhota Rajan alias Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje, another wanted criminal, smuggler and crime lord.

2. He said that Chhota Rajan targets and kills innocent people and that they plan on killing him if they ever get their hands on him.

3. He rubbished the reports that Chhota Rajan has been targeting their men.

4. He called the reports where Rajan calls himself a patriot and a hindu don a creation of the media.

5. He denied his involvement in match fixing by saying that they have enough assets and the Delhi commissioner of police also knows that he and his team are not involved.

6. He had offered to surrender to the Indian authorities in the latter half of 1990s, after being among the accused for 1993 Mumbai blasts, on the condition that they won't torture or kill him.

In an interview with the same national daily, top lawyer Ram Jethmalani also revealed that despite Shakeel having offered to surrender, the then government of Maharashtra nixed it and didn't let that happen as "they feared that he might spill the beans against many in power and authority."

These interviews make evident the hand-in-glove connections of the people in power and authority with the crime lords of the organized crime syndicate.