Mumbai cops 'demoralised' over transfer of Chhota Rajan cases to CBI

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government's decision to hand over all the cases against underworld don Chhota Rajan to CBI has not gone down well with Mumbai Police with several senior officials criticising the move stating that it has raised doubts over their ability.

"The decision is a slap on the city police force as the government has directly portrayed that they don't trust the city police as well as its crime branch," said a crime branch official, requesting anonymity.

"This step has, in fact, demoralised the entire force, which has time and again curbed the underworld activities in the city. The city's crime branch was ranked next only to the Scotland Yard police in world," another official added.

The government's decision has made it apparent that the entire police force including the top brass of city police and crime branch is mixed up with the underworld, the officials said.

"Our own government that appoints the top brass of Mumbai Police has shown that it has no faith in the force," one more official said.

Considering the random incidents involving some Mumbai Police officers in the past, who thwarted "government's operation against Dawood Ibrahim", by arresting two key aides of Rajan - Farid Tanasha and Vicky Malhotra-- in Delhi, has put the city police in "no faith zone", the official added.

The moot question, being discussed in the city police circle, is that whether Rajan is being provided special treatment by the central agencies in Delhi, said an official.

Such decision by the government made it apparent that the gangster has been enjoying the patronage of central agencies, the official said, adding that if this question and logical thoughts aren't true, then another question arises: Why the CBI wasn't given the charge of handling all the Mumbai based cases of several other notorious, hardcore and ruthless gangsters, who were deported or extradited in the past.

Some of criminals who were either deported or extradited include Iqbal Kaskar, Raj Kumar alias Raju Chikna, Mustafa Dossa, Ejaz Pathan, Tariq Parveen, Anil Parab, Abu Salem, Lambu Shakeel, Shahid Qureshi, Jameel Jabbar, Sanjay Baba, Mustafa Gulam, Abdul Aziz Dholakia and Jack Jameeel, Shahid Qureshi alias Miya (Chhota Shakeel's brother-in-law), Arif Aboobakar alias Bhaijaan, (another brother-in-law of Chhota Shakeel), Iqbal Attarwala, Mohammed Salim alias Salim Fruit and Anjum Adam Phajalani, the official said.

The CBI was never given the charge of handling the Mumbai based cases of all these gangsters, the official added.