Mumbai, Aug 12: In an international operation, Santosh Shetty, underworld don and one of the most wanted criminals in India, was nabbed in Thailand and deported here, where he was arrested today in a fake passport case.
In co-ordination with Thailand Police, Crime Branch officials of Mumbai Police nabbed him from his hideout in Bangkok. He was deported here early this morning and placed under arrest in a fake passport case, said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Himanshu Roy.
The big-time narcotics as well as gold smuggler, facing at least a dozen criminal cases in the city alone, had been evading arrest since 1999, and changed his locations in five countries, including Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia.
“Shetty, who parted ways with underworld don Chhota Rajan in 2004 over financial matters, had been staying in the Thai capital in a rented house with his second family and with a fake name, Nikhilesh Sharma. His passport bearing the same name has been seized. He was produced in a Mumbai court which remanded him in police custody till August 17,” Roy said.
Sending out a strong message to criminals holed up in foreign countries and carrying out their activities in the metropolis, the police officer warned, “Wherever the gangsters may be, we will catch them and bring them to book.”
Describing Shetty as a “big catch”, Roy said his team had been working on the information pertaining to Shetty for the past six months and managed to corner him in Bangkok in this international operation.
He was facing cases like extortion, kidnapping and murder in India, the Joint Commissioner said. PTI
