Chhota Rajan

Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje (born 13 January 1957), popularly known by his moniker Chhota Rajan, is an Indian gangster and convicted criminal who was the crime lord of a major Mumbai-based syndicate.

Rajan was extradited from Bali to India on 6 November 2015 after 27 years on the run and awaited trials for ongoing cases was in custody. On 2 May 2018, he was convicted of murder of a journalist and handed life imprisonment. He was convicted of murder of a hotelier and handed rigorous life imprisonment on 30 May 2024. In India, this was the sixth case in which Chotta Rajan was convicted since his deportation.

Criminal career

Rajan was born in a family in the Tilaknagar area of Chembur, Bombay. He worked as a cinema ticket seller in his early days.

He began his criminal career by committing petty crimes in Chembur. His mentor Bada Rajan introduced him to black marketing of cinema tickets at Sahakar cinema Ashok Theatre in the 1980s. His mentors were Bada Rajan and Yadagiri of Hyderabad under whom he learned the tricks of the trade. Once Bada Rajan was killed, Nikalje received the throne and the title—Chhota Rajan. For a short period, Dawood Ibrahim, Rajan and Arun Gawli worked together. Then, Gawli's elder brother Papa Gawli was assassinated over a drug deal and a rift formed. He never returned. Following the 1993 Bombay bombings, Ibrahim and Rajan fell out. There were even reports that Rajan tipped off the Research and Analysis Wing about Ibrahim's network.