Gangster Chhota Rajan has 71 cases of murder, extortion and drug trafficking against him.
Reports that gangster Chhota Rajan surrendered in Bali are "speculative, hypothetical and not proved," India's ambassador to Indonesia, Gurjit Singh, told NDTV today.
Mr Singh was responding to a question on the circumstances under which Rajendra Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan was arrested at the Bali International Airport in Denpasar on October 25 after being on the run for two decades.
The Bali police say Rajan told them he came to Bali from Sydney in Australia all alone for a "holiday." They said they found the circumstances "suspicious" and did not believe the 55-year-old gangster.
Speaking to NDTV in the picturesque town of Ubud, Gurjit Singh refused to comment on why Rajan came to Bali, saying he wasn't privy to any inside information
The diplomat said the process of fulfilling the necessary documentation for Rajan's deportation was on and it would be finished in reasonable time, denying any knowledge of when a team of Indian officials would arrive to take custody of the crime boss.
He said a letter reportedly written by Chhota Rajan to the Indian government seeking consular access is "a matter OF privileged correspondence."
"Consular access is given when somebody is arrested just like that. This was an arrest based on our request to Indonesia," the ambassador said.
From the single story building where he is lodged, Rajan is said to have written the letter to the consulate in Bali seeking consular access and complaining of a lack of security at the Bali jail, especially as there is a threat to his life.
Sources said he has also mentioned in his letter that he needs better medical care as he is suffering from various ailments, a claim rubbished by the local police who said medical tests say he is well.
Rajan, who has 71 cases of murder, extortion and drug trafficking against him in Mumbai, has said he wants to return to India and does not want to go to Zimbabwe, as was reported earlier.
Rajan had told the Bali Police earlier that he did not want to go back to India as he was afraid of being killed by underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, his former mentor turned bitter rival, who has made many attempts on his life.