When confronted, gangster Chhota Rajan made no attempt to hide identity

Chhota Rajan is a moniker that Nikhalje acquired after his first boss Rajan Nair alias Bada Rajan was killed in a shootout in Mumbai and he took over the reins of the gang.

Sources in the CBI, which got Rajan to the Capital early on Friday and is likely to take his formal custody before 6 am Saturday, said he did not make any attempt to hide his identity initially. Rajan had been detained by Bali police after a tip-off from Australia, where he had been staying for several years.

See video

[related-post]

ALSO READ: High drama at arrival

Rajan flew from Australia to Bali with an Indian passport under the name Mohan Kumar. Australian authorities had told Bali police that an Indian fugitive named Mohan Kumar would be arriving at the tourist destination.

“While Rajan was still getting his immigration cleared, a Bali police officer asked him to step aside and identify himself. He told the policeman he was Rajendra Sadashiv Nikhalje,” said a CBI officer.

For a gangster on the run for over 27 years and facing over 75 cases, this was a rather feeble attempt to escape the law. The CBI, which ensured Rajan’s deportation to India with help from Interpol, has categorically denied that he surrendered.

The Indian Express had on October 27 reported that Rajan, regarded as an asset by the Indian intelligence, had been in touch with a few officers in the Indian security set-up months before his arrest in Bali.

During subsequent interrogation, CBI sources said, Rajan kept denying he was the fugitive don India had issued a red corner notice against. However, his fate was sealed when CBI sent various documents along with his fingerprints to help identify him. “Eleven features of the 18 that are checked in fingerprint analysis matched. This, along with other evidence, confirmed his identity,” said the officer.

The CBI is likely to conduct a full-fledged interrogation of the gangster. According to procedure, Rajan is currently in Interpol custody, which will lapse at 6 am Saturday. The CBI will have to take his formal custody before that. This could involve getting a magistrate to come to the CBI headquarters and granting his custody to the agency, said sources.

Chotta Rajan being taken to the Bali airport on Thursday. (Source: AP)

Given that neither the Delhi Police, which has registered about half a dozen cases against Rajan, nor the Mumbai Police have formally handed over any case to the CBI so far, the agency is likely to take his custody in a passport fraud case, said sources.