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No need for fresh red corner alert
for Rajan's arrest: Interpol

The Central Bureau of Investigation's Interpol branch has clarified that there is no need for Interpol to issue a fresh red corner alert for the arrest of gangster Chhota Rajan.

The sources stated this following queries raised by Maharashtra Home Minister Chhagan Bhujbal at a press conference in Bombay.

"The alert issued by Interpol in 1995 is pending with the Thailand police and they can arrest Rajan. Only after he is formally arrested by the Thai police, can the Interpol branch can make a formal request for his extradition. Unless he is arrested, nothing can be done by Interpol," the sources told rediff.com.

Rajan was wounded in the stomach and arms in a shootout on September 15 in Bangkok. He was to testify in a court in the shootout case in Bangkok. He had expressed his desire to return to India. He also claimed that he was a patriot and he was exposing Dawood Ibrahim.

He and his men have been involved in a series of crimes in Bombay and the city police had asked the Interpol (CBI) to issue the alert after he fled India and started living in Thailand under the assumed name of Vijay Daman.

"We are in touch with the Thai police on a day-to-day basis and have been keeping a watch on developments in the case. If need be, we will send a team to Thailand after he is formally arrested there. Till that happens, we will have to wait and watch," a senior official of the CBI stated.

When asked if the charges levelled by the Thailand police against Rajan will help the Interpol in his arrest and extradition, the sources said that the new development was purely an internal matter of Thailand and would not help India.

The Thailand police had charged Rajan with providing false information to the Thai authorities and living in Thailand under an assumed name.

A home ministry official said, "We are keeping a close watch on the developments in Thailand."

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