A month and a half after the murder of his trusted aide Farid Tanasha, allegedly by Bharat Nepali’s men, underworld don Chhota Rajan took his revenge for the murder by having Nepali’s wife killed. Bharat Nepali, a one-time Rajan man, had had a fallout with Rajan, and is believed to have killed Farid. According to the intelligence sources, on July 10, Rajan apparently had Bharat Nepali’s wife killed on the streets of Bangkok. Nepali’s wife, a Thai resident and a nurse, reportedly met an accident near her house in Bangkok.
“It seems that Rajan sent his shooters to Nepali’s house in Bangkok. However, only his wife was present. As she ran out of house, the car in which some other Rajan men were sitting ran her over,” said the source, and added, “At the outset, it might have appeared to be an accident, but it is clearly Rajan’s handiwork.”
In September 2000, Rajan was admitted to the intensive care unit of the Smitivej Hospital in Bangkok with two bullets in his body, after he was attacked.
According to the intelligence source, Nepali’s wife was the one who nursed Rajan when he was in the hospital after he was attacked. “Nepali had stayed beside Rajan the whole time in the hospital, and it was during this period that he married the nurse,” the source said and added, “As she was a Thai resident, she was Nepali’s sponsor too. He was staying in Bangkok on her visa.”
However, according to sources, Nepali left Bangkok after eliminating Tanasha, as he was quite aware that Rajan would definitely try and get him killed.
According to the crime branch source, “It was highly unlikely for Rajan to sit quiet after Nepali bumped off Tanasha. There is a rule in underworld — after the rival gang eliminates a gang member, then the boss has to launch a counter attack.”
“Rajan had to strike back. Otherwise, his own gang members would have started leaving,” the crime branch official said.
He added, “Rajan would have eliminated Nepali’s wife as she was based in Bangkok. Also, some members of his own family are staying here. Had he attacked any member of Nepali’s family which is based in Tilak Nagar, Rajan’s own wife and children would have been in danger.”
“We have got the information about Nepali’s wife’s murder, and are looking into it,” said Himanshu Roy, joint commissioner (crime). Mr Roy added that the crime branch is also keeping a watch on whether it would have any implication here in Mumbai.