Feature
Chhota Rajan used three fake passports to stay abroad
By Rajnish Singh
New Delhi: Absconding underworld don Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan, who had fled India in 1988 for Dubai, used three fake passports during his stay in Thailand, Australia and some southeast Asian countries.
Rajan got his first fake passport under the name Vijay Kadam in 1996 and went to Bangkok in Thailand and started living there.
Official sources said Rajan had been living in Bangkok on the same passport till 2000. That year the associates of fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, his close friend before the 1993 Mumbai blasts conspiracy, attacked him at a hotel.
Rajan managed a dramatic escape by jumping from the first floor of the hotel, the sources said.
The CBI then got a tip-off through Interpol about the attack on Rajan by Dawood’s men. The investigating agency also learned from Interpol about the fake passport being used by Rajan and registered a case in 2002, an official source said.
“On the same passport, Rajan travelled to South Africa and some other southeast Asian countries where he had a strong network.”
Sources said Rajan feared getting arrested after the attack. He got an Indian passport (No.G9273860) made on the fake name of Mohan Kumar, resident of 107/B, Old MC Road, Azad Nagar, Mandya in Karnataka.
“Rajan got the passport from Harare in Zimbabwe.”
Rajan landed in Australia on September 22, 2003 using the same passport, which was valid till July 7, 2018, and a tourist visa.
“Since 2003 to October 25, 2015, Rajan stayed in Australia on the same passport and fraudulently obtained several different visas to reside there. Later, he managed to get Australian residency,” sources told IANS.
As per sources, the CBI received the information about Rajan’s stay in Australia in May 2015 through the Australian Interpol when the agency did a review of major fugitives.
Meanwhile, the agency got a tip-off that Rajan’s residency permit was expiring on October 31, 2015 and he was trying to get it extended.
“The CBI then managed to get his fingerprints. As soon as his identity was matched through his fingerprint samples, the Interpol managed to stop the extension of his residency permit in Australia,” official sources told IANS.
Rajan told the CBI during interrogation that he decided to go to some other country when his attempt to get his Australian residency extended failed.
“Rajan had chosen four destinations, including Bali, where he was arrested on October 25 just after landing from an Australian flight,” said sources.
“Rajan landed in the immigration net in Bali when he accidentally revealed his real name. Although the forged documents had his name as Mohan Kumar, he instinctively said Rajendra Nikhalje when he was asked his name,” the source claimed.
Sources said the Australian Interpol in the meantime had shared information about Rajan with their Indonesian counterparts on the request of Indian Interpol.
Indonesian Police arrested Rajan on arrival in Bali as the Indian Interpol had in 1995 issued a Red Corner Notice (RCN) against him.
The CBI team left for Bali on October 31 after filing a case against him under the Passport Act 1967.
Subsequently, Rajan, wanted for over 85 crimes ranging from murder to extortion, smuggling and drug trafficking in Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, was handed over to CBI-Interpol (India) for his deportation to India.
Rajan, who was deported to India on Friday, is now in the CBI’s custody for 10 days.
Sources said a third fake passport has also been recovered from Rajan’s possession, which states the last name of his father as ‘Rajan’.
The officials could not give much input about his third passport, citing ongoing investigations as the reason.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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