INDIA. Mumbai: Jailed gangster Chhota Rajan’s close aide Santosh Mahadeo Sawant (55) alias Abu Sawant was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as he landed at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, from Singapore, after being on the run for 18 years, on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the high commission of India in Singapore alerted the nodal officer of the CBI that Sawant was being deported. Soon after he landed at Delhi international airport, the CBI staked its claim over his custody in a 2016 case of extortion.
The Bureau of Immigration Department, Chatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, secured Sawant’s landing at Mumbai airport. He was handed over to CBI by the Immigration Department officials, the CBI statement read.
Sawant was produced before the Trial Court, Mumbai and was remanded to Judicial Custody till May 02 on Wednesday. An application was filed before the competent court on behalf of Sawant for his surrender before the trial court.
CBI registered the case on April 07, 2016, at the request of the Maharashtra Government. The case was initially registered in Police Station Tilak Nagar, Mumbai, vide FIR No. 207/2005 dated December 13, 2005, on the allegations that Sawant and others belonging to organized crime had extorted Rs 20 lakh from the complainant (developer) and further attempted to extort another Rs. 20 lakhs from him and others under the threats of murder.
The complainant had further alleged that the accused and their associates were extorting large sums of money from developers who undertook the redevelopment of the old building in Tilak Nagar, Naidu Colony, Ghatkopar and other areas of Mumbai.
The case was transferred to the Detection of Crime Branch, CID of Mumbai Police. The DCB, CID, Mumbai filed a charge sheet and two supplementary ones against 11 accused. After CBI took over, the supplementary charge sheets were filed against three more accused before the Designated Court in Mumbai.
Sawant has been absconding since 2005. The extradition process to bring him back began in 2010 when he was found to be running hotels in Singapore. A Red Corner Notice was issued against him through INTERPOL in 2012. Subsequently, the Ministry of External Affairs sent an extradition request to Singapore.
The deportation of Sawant is seen as a setback for the incarcerated Rajan as he handled all his financial matters and was known for his loyalty to his mentor.
Six offences are pending against Sawant, including one under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in which he and Rajan’s wife, Sujata Nikalje, are the key accused. The MCOCA case is from 2006 when the crime branch arrested Sujata and two others for threatening and extorting from builders in Tilak Nagar. The allegation was that Sujata and Sawant were forcing builders to hand over redevelopment projects to Sujata’s construction firm-Khushi Construction, which was named after Rajan’s daughter.
Sawant, the son of a real estate agent, met Rajan during a property deal and soon gained prominence in his gang. He started handling his finances, identifying targets, threatening builders, pressuring officials, and caring for his kin. Sawant’s family lives in Singapore, where he owns hotels. He was controlling Rajan’s properties in Malaysia and Indonesia.
Immediately after Rajan was deported to India from Bali in Indonesia in 2015, the government handed over all his 71 offences to the CBI. At present, Rajan is lodged in Tihar jail (New Delhi), serving a life sentence for the murder of journalist J Dey in 2011 in Mumbai.
Also Read: CBI Arrests Three People Associated with the Kamptee Cantonment Board in a Bribery Case
