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Thailand says India has not asked for extradition

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October 10, 2000 

BANGKOK (AP) - India has not made an extradition request to Thailand for a man it claims is a notorious Indian gangster, the Thai foreign minister said Monday.

Vijay Kadam, alias Chota Rajan, was shot and wounded on Sep. 15 in a Bangkok apartment by eight gunmen from a rival Indian gang.

The shooting received publicity, triggering a spate of stories in the Thai and Indian press that exposed him as a major figure in the Bombay underworld.

"I have not so far received any extradition request from the Indian government," Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan said at a news conference. "I have not heard any word about this matter."

As the foreign minister, Surin would be the person to approve whether Kadam should be extradited.

Even though Kadam, who fled India in 1986, is wanted there for several cases of murder and attempted murder, the Indian government has been slow in officially seeking his return.

Kadam - who has been recovering in hospital - was arrested last week after a visiting team of Indian police told their Thai counterparts that he was traveling on an illegal passport.

Thai Immigration Police chief Lt. Gen. Hemaraj Theerathai said Kadam will not be allowed to leave Thailand until his trial for illegal entry is finished.

He will be sent back to India, the police chief said.

A friend of Kadam, Michael d'Souza, was shot and killed in the Sept. 15 attack, and the friend's wife, Shangrita Sharma, was wounded.

Kadam's associates have blamed the attack on a rival Indian gangster, Ibrahim Dawood, who operates his Bombay underworld from Karachi, Pakistan, and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.