One of India's notorious gangsters who has been on the run for the past 20 years, Chhota Rajan was recently arrested in the resort island of Bali in Indonesia. An associate of mob boss Dawood Ibrahim, Rajan was arrested from Bali airport based on an Interpol red corner notice and a tip-off from authorities in Australia, where is is reported to have spent the last 6 years. A joint CBI and Mumbai Police team will soon fly to the island to bring Rajan back.
Addressing the media, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said, “It is official. We have captured Chhota Rajan. Once identification and verification is done, appropriate action will be taken.” Senior police officers have stated that while the arrest may not help catch Dawood, it could be vital in cracking a spate of unsolved murder and extortion cases, including the high-profile killing of journalist Jyotirmoy Dey in 2011. Former Mumbai police commissioner M N Singh said the gangster may have staged the arrest citing ill health, but several officials believe he wants to come back to take control of the underworld. “At the request of CBI (Interpol wing) India, Bali Police arrested an Indian national Mohan Kumar on October 25. Kumar alias Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan is a fugitive,” said CBI director Anil Sinha, putting an end to the confusion over the identity of the person arrested.
India and Indonesia signed an extradition treaty in 2011 but Jakarta hasn’t ratified it so far. In August, the two countries signed a pact for the deportation of wanted criminals on court warrant, an agreement that may come in handy. “We don’t need a formal extradition treaty. There are other arrangements.... and it has happened before,” said Anil Wadhwa, secretary in the external affairs ministry. It is said that he was under the Australian police's radar four months back. “But despite identifying Rajan, Australian authorities didn't want any mess on their land as rival Dawood's hitmen were looking for him. They wanted to avoid any India-Pakistan situation in Australia,” a security official said. The Maharashtra government has said it will write to the Centre and demand Rajan's custody for further investigation in at least 68 cases, 28 of which are on extortion.
Rajan had started his career in crime as a petty thief and bootlegger under the Rajan Nair, known as Bada Rajan, slowly expanding his syndicate committing at least 20 murders. He fell out with Dawood Ibrahim after the 1993 Mumbai blasts that killed 257 people, declared himself a “patriotic don', and murdered key associates Sunil Sawant and Sharad Shetty in the UAE, besides other blasts accused.
