Three years after he was deported from Bangkok with a lot of fanfare by the Mumbai crime branch, underworld don Santosh Shetty is on the verge of being a free-man. Earlier this week, Shetty was discharged by the Bombay high court in the sensational murder of advocate Shahid Azmi. On Thursday, Rajasthan police took custody of him for his alleged involvement in a kidnapping and extortion, the final case against him.
How was Shetty nabbed?
In an international operation, the Mumbai police had nabbed and deported Shetty from Bangkok in August 2011. At that time, the Mumbai police had claimed that Shetty was involved in as many as 12 serious cases, including murder, extortion and kidnapping. However, after three years, Shetty has either been discharged, acquitted or has been granted bail in all cases, except the one case in Rajasthan.
What after the HC order?
Recently, the Bombay high court discharged Shetty in the murder case of Azmi. However, even before he could be released from the Arthur Road jail, Rajasthan police landed in Mumbai on Wednesday seeking his custody in a kidnapping case. The Rajasthan police moved an application in Esplanade Court and sought to take him to their state and interrogate him, which was granted. Confirming the development, an official from the crime branch said, "The Rajasthan police have sought his custody and Shetty will be handed over to them for a case registered against him in Rajashthan".
Was the public prosecutor to blame?
"I am very disappointed and unhappy with the turn of events. The public prosecutor who was representing the case in the court could not answer the queries raised by the judge regarding the police investigation," said advocate Khalid Azmi, brother of Shahid Azmi. He further added, "I am awaiting the detailed order to know on what grounds Shetty was discharged."
The flamboyant don
Shetty, born in an affluent business family residing on Peddar road, was the son of a garment trader. He completed his schooling from Bharda High School at CST and went to Lala Lajpatrai college at Mahalaxmi. Shetty, before taking up crime, wanted to start his own hotel business and had also enrolled himself for hotel management studies. According to the Mumbai police, Shetty's tryst with crime started in 1988 when he got involved in gold and narcotics smuggling. In 1993, fugitive don Chotta Rajan inducted him in his gang.
Don's alliances and betrayals
Shetty, fluent in English, fell in love with a Parsi woman in the late ninetees, with whom he later married and has a school-going daughter. He later, married another woman of Chinese origin in Indonesia, with whom he fathered a son. Shetty came into the limelight when he helped Rajan escape from a Bankok hospital. An attempt to kill Rajan was made by Chotta Shakeel in 2000. In 2005 Shetty split with Rajan and formed his own gang with Bharat Nepali whom he later murdered in a bunglow in Pataya. Before his arrest, Shetty is believed to have been heading a narcotics business in China and North East Asia.
His fondness for gadgets
Sources say that Shetty, who was used to high-end lavish lifestyle is a connoisseur of latest gadgets. At the same time, he was vary of speaking much over the phone and preferred internet telephony like Skype in order to avoid tracking by the intelligence agencies.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}