Directorate of Revenue Intelligence

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) is a central Indian intelligence agency tasked with combating smuggling, drug trafficking, and economic offenses. Within the book's narrative, the DRI emerges as a key state institution that monitors and investigates the financial activities of underworld figures and their families, most notably playing a crucial role in the case against Sujata Nikhalje, the wife of gangster Chhota Rajan, by helping to build the evidence that led to her charge-sheeting under the MCOCA.

Role in Investigating Sujata Nikhalje

The DRI's most prominent role in the book is its involvement in the investigation of Sujata Nikhalje, the wife of the fugitive don Chhota Rajan. As Sujata began to build a real estate empire in Tilak Nagar using her husband's illicit money, she attracted the attention of multiple state agencies. The DRI was one of the key organizations, alongside the Mumbai police's Crime Branch, the Enforcement Directorate, and the Income Tax department, that kept tabs on her activities, earning her a menacing reputation. The agency's involvement was crucial because the case against Sujata became so complicated that the police sought the DRI's help to piece together the financial evidence. With the DRI's assistance, the police managed to gather enough evidence to incriminate her, leading to her charge-sheeting under the MCOCA in 2006.

Opposition to Sujata's Travel Requests

The DRI's role extended beyond the initial investigation. In 2008, when Sujata requested permission from the court to travel to Hong Kong and Singapore to help get her daughter Anita admitted to a foreign university, the DRI opposed her application. The agency argued that the request was an attempt by Sujata to flee the country and join her husband, Chhota Rajan, who was living abroad. The DRI stated that the investigation against Sujata under the Money Laundering Act was in its final stage, and therefore her application was rejected. This action demonstrates the DRI's ongoing vigilance in preventing the accused from evading justice and its role in the broader legal strategy against the underworld's financial networks.

Broader Context of State Agencies in the Narrative

The DRI's involvement in the Sujata Nikhalje case is part of a larger pattern in the book, where various state agencies are shown to be engaged in a complex cat-and-mouse game with the underworld. The narrative highlights how the DRI, along with other agencies like the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax department, works to trace the flow of illicit money and dismantle the financial infrastructure of criminal organizations. This is seen in the context of other criminal economies, such as the drug empire of Mahalaxmi Papamani, who stockpiled cash in hutments across the Sion-Koliwada slum, and the grain smuggling operations of Jenabai Daaruwali in the 1940s, which the police repeatedly raided but could never successfully prosecute. The DRI's work represents the state's attempt to counter these illicit financial flows, which often connect Mumbai to global hubs like Dubai and Kathmandu, as seen in the smuggling networks described in the book.