Sulking BJP MP R K Singh, a former Union home secretary, on Thursday did not find much to rejoice on the arrest of underworld don Chhota Rajan, saying the challenge is to get Dawood Ibrahim in the net.
Singh said the arrest of Rajan is welcome but for the government, the biggest thing would be to get Dawood, who is holed up in Pakistan and under the secure environment provided by the ISI.
“It is good that Chhota Rajan has been arrested but major achievement for the govt would be when Dawood is either neutralised or nabbed. The (real) challenge is getting Dawood. Is it a challenge at all to catch Rajan,” he said.
His comments came at a time the Centre has expressed its happiness over the arrest of Rajan in Indonesia’s Bali and hoping that he would be able to give more information on Dawood.
Singh’s comments also assume significance as he has been making remarks that is not going well with the party brass. The former IAS officer is feeling sidelined as his recommendations during Bihar polls was not taken seriously by the leadership.
He had even come on record to register his opposition to certain candidates fielded in the Bihar polls. Singh had then said that BJP has given tickets to criminal elements.
Earlier, he had created a furore when he said corrupt elements in the Mumbai Police had thwarted an attempt by Ajit Doval, now the NSA, to eliminate Dawood Ibrahim using gang members of Chhota Rajan. In 2005, a sharp shooter was arrested from Chanakyapuri in Delhi from a car in which Doval was also travelling. It had unravelled that the intelligence agencies were using the gang in a covert operation to target Dawood.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh welcomed the arrest of Rajan. “But at the same time, it appears to be more of a surrender than an arrest,” he said.
“The Centre has to come out whether any deal has been struck with Chhota Rajan, whether some concessions have been promised to him,” he said.