Thai court backs India in bid to extradite Chhota Shakeel’s aide

A Thailand court has ruled in favour of India’s request for extraditing gangster Chhota Shakeel’s close aide Mudassar Hussain Sayyed alias Munna Zingada, whom Pakistan was trying to claim as its national, an official said on Thursday.

While Zingada tried to prove that he was a Pakistani national, strong proofs like DNA samples of his kin, his finger print details, ration card, voter identity card etc. submitted by Indian authorities nailed the gangster’s lie in the court, he said.

In an attempt to prove himself as a Pakistani national to avoid law in India, Zingada had submitted before the court the birth certificate of his son and related documents, the crime branch official said.

The order passed by a court in Bangkok on Wednesday is in Thai language, he said, terming it as a “victory” for the Mumbai Crime Branch in an international court.

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The court’s ruling is being seen as a setback for underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, as Zingada’s extradition could help India’s claim about Ibrahim’s presence in Pakistan.

The court has given one-month time to Zingada to challenge the order, and in the meantime authorities at the Indian embassy in Thailand will issue a warrant against him to start his extradition process, he said.

Another official said the documents produced in the court by Zingada, 50, were created in Pakistan.

Apart from his Pakistani passport in which his name was printed as Mohammed Saleem, Zingada provided the birth certificate of his son and a school certificate issued by a school in Karachi, he said.

However, the court refused to acknowledge these documents given the strong evidences presented by India.

The official refused to elaborate on the matter, saying they had not yet received a copy of the order.

Zingada, a native of suburban Jogeshwari in Mumbai and a close aide of Chhota Shakeel, had gone to Bangkok in 2000 to eliminate gangster Chhota Rajan at the behest of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.

Rajan had survived the attack but his close aide Rohit Verma was killed.

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After the attack, Zingada had fled to Pakistan and returned to Thailand in 2001 with a Pakistani passport.

He was then arrested in Thailand and convicted in the case of attack on Rajan.

Zingada served 16 years in a Thai prison after the conviction, the official said, adding that India was constantly trying for his extradition since last few years.

Pakistan was also trying to take his custody through the diplomatic channel by submitting his Pakistani passport and school leaving certificate to the Thai authorities.

In 2016, the Crime Branch team had travelled to Thailand to expedite the process.

The police team had submitted in a Thai court a dossier on Zingada, mentioning his crime record in Mumbai during his stay between 1994-97 along with his personal details, the official said.