India seeks extradition of Don Bannanje Rajendra

NEW DELHI: Once bitten, twice shy. India has stepped up diplomatic pressure to extradite underworld operative Bannanje Rajendra, arrested last month in Morocco.

Accused of the murder of a BJP leader in Karnataka, Rajendra had managed to give security agencies a slip in 2009 when he was detained in the UAE based on a red corner notice from Interpol.

Police teams armed with evidence against Rajendra's involvement in nearly two dozen cases of extortion has been dispatched to Moracco. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) too has taken up the matter with its counterparts in Morocco asking them to expedite the extradition. Rajendra has filed an appeal before the Morocco court asking them not to extradite him from that country.

He is believed to be staying in Morocco since 2010 under an assumed identity and is also learnt to have invested in real estate.

However, Karnataka police, with the help of Interpol, is insistent on bringing him to India to stand trial where an arrest warrant have also been issued by a Mangalore court. The elusive underworld don is believed to be running his extortion business in India from Morocco leaving the agencies frustrated as they were not able to track him. "The extortion calls were made using VOIP and fake SIM cards. At UAE, he managed to dodge Indi an agencies by getting framed in a cheque bounce case and agreeing to under prosecution in that country," explained an official.

"We are not only going to present evidence of his stay in Morocco but will also highlight that his network in Morocco will be dangerous for them as well," the officer added.

According to Karnataka police, the gang run by Rajendra is also alleged to be behind the daylight killing of businessman-politician RN Nayak in 2013. The local police claimed to have arrested the main accused Jagadish in 2014 who was alleged to be the brain behind the murder of Nayak but claimed that Jagadish was acting at the behest of Rajendra. The cops also claimed that they have seized evidence to suggest that Jagadish was taking instruction from him.

Sources also said that the arrest of Jagadish helped the security agencies to trail Rajendra and it was based on his information that Indian authorities mounted pressure on Moroccan authorities. As per the dossier available with Interpol, Rajendra hails from Udupi and understands English and Hindi besides the local language.