Malaysian police confirmed on Wednesday that an Indian citizen found slashed to death was a notorious gangster from the Mumbai underworld.
Authorities last month tentatively identified a body found May 22 as that of Suresh Krishnakant Sharma, but later began checking if he may actually be Balu Dokre, alias Kiran -- a lieutenant of mumbai don Chota Rajan.
"His identity was verified and confirmed with the help of Interpol through verification of fingerprints," Frederick Liso Senap, police chief in Hulu Selangor district near Kuala Lumpur, told the national news agency, Bernama.
Dokre was said to be high on the Mumbai police's wanted list in connection with 43 criminal cases, including the killing of Nepalese lawmaker Mirza Dilshad in 1998, according to Indian media reports.
Police allowed Dokre's body to be released from a hospital mortuary on Wednesday to an Indian man who claimed it on behalf of Dokre's family, Senap said.
The body was expected to be flown to Mumbai later on Wednesday, Bernama reported.
The body was found with its head almost severed in a field near the main road near Rawang town, about 40 kilometers north of Kuala Lumpur, roughly 12 hours after death. It had stab wounds, and a knife was found in its chest.
Police ruled out robbery as a motive, since the man's jewelry and cash were intact.
An Indian embassy official had said the victim's passport and a Malaysian identification card issued to foreigners identified him as Sharma, who purportedly worked for a mattress manufacturing company -- but a police check found he was never employed there.
The Times of India last month said the killing was the work of rival Indian gangster Dawood Ibrahim, who directs his Mumbai operations from Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.
Dokre's boss, Rajan, once was Ibrahim's right-hand man, but broke away and set up his own gang about 12 years ago.
Rajan, wanted in India for crimes including extortion and murder, survived an attempt on his life in 2000 while hiding in Bangkok. He was seriously injured in the shooting, which he claimed was Ibrahim's handiwork. Rajan escaped from a Thai hospital, and his whereabouts are unknown.
