NEW DELHI: The extradition of senior D-Company operative and Chhota Shakeel aide Munna Jhingra, who served 16 years in a Thai jail for an attempt to assassinate Chotta Rajan, is expected to help India establish his boss Dawood Ibrahim ’s presence in Pakistan . This, an intelligence source pointed out, is precisely the reason why Islamabad left no stone unturned to secure his deportation by anyhow proving him to be a Pakistani national.

Of course, the counter-evidence submitted to the Thai court by India — fingerprints, DNA samples of his family members in India, college leaving certificate and copies of FIR registered against him in Mumbai for crimes including murder — punctured Pakistan’s claim and led the court to rule Jhingra to be an Indian national.

The criminal court at Ratchada, Bangkok, also commented adversely on the evidence presented by Pakistan government in the case. As per Thai laws, Jhingra has 30 days to appeal in the High Court, failing which He must be repatriated eithin 90 days.

Munna Jhingra, whose real name is Sayyed Muzakkir Muddassar Hussain, is a native of Sayyed Muddassar Chawl near Toofani Kirana Stores, Prem Nagar, Jogeshwari (East), Mumbai. His father Muddassar Hussain had deep links with 1993 Mumbai blasts, according to Indian agencies. Jhingra was himself a key hitman who carried out targeted killings in Mumbai on behalf of D-Company.

According to intelligence sources, Jhingra had been under the patronage of Pakistan’s ISI for being a trusted leader of D-Company. It was ISI that prepared his Pakistani passport in the fake name of Mohammed Saleem to facilitate his visit to Thailand for executing the assassination of Chhota Rajan. Even after he reached Thailand for the assigned task, his protection was taken care of by the Embassy of Pakistan, an intelligence officer told TOI.

After his conviction, ISI officials tried to get his sentence reduced through the Pakistani Embassy, engaging not just the Thai foreign ministry but also informal channels. The efforts helped Jhingra get four Royal pardons till 2011, reducing his sentence to 18 years. Simultaneously, Pakistan filed for Jhingra’s extradition, claiming him to be Mohammad Saleem as per its records and producing documents including passport to back its claim.

In March 2012, India too made a formal request for Jhingra’s extradition in connection with six criminal cases in Mumbai. He was also subject of an Interpol red-corner notice. On December 27, 2016, a second extradition request was made for one more case.

When Jhingra completed 16 years of imprisonment in 2016, the remaining period of his sentence was commuted by a 5th Royal pardon. He was released on December 27, 2016 but immediately re-arrested and imprisoned in Bangkok remand prison under Extradition Act.

Pakistan had earlier used forged documents to secure extradition of Myanmarese drug peddler and Jhingra’s close aide Ibrahim Koko. The Pakistan embassy in Bangkok sought his extradition on the ground that he was a Pakistani national. Though he was extradited to Pakistan in 2015, the local Pakistani court during the trial ruled he was travelling on fake Pakistani documents and ordered his deportation back to Thailand to serve remainder of his prison sentence.

Jhingra was running a drug trafficking racket while in Thai jail, according to intelligence sources.



In Video: Extradite Chhota Shakeel’s aide to India: Thai court