Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje, better known as Chhota Rajan, is an Indian gangster who was once the right-hand man of notorious Indian criminal Dawood Ibrahim. As of 2021, he is serving a life sentence in Tihar Jail, New Delhi.
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Wiki/Biography
Chhota Rajan was born on Tuesday, 13 January 1959 (age 62 years; as in 2021) in Tilaknagar area of Chembur, Mumbai. Their zodiac sign is Capricorn. He did his schooling from Amchi Shala Marathi Medium School, Mumbai. He was a loner and frontbencher during his school days. As a child, Rajan had little interest in studies and left school after passing 11th grade. Then he started doing small jobs to earn his livelihood. When he was a teenager, he started selling movie tickets in black outside Shankar Cinema in Mumbai.
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 6″
Hair Color: Black
Eye colour: black
family and caste
Chhota Rajan belongs to a Marathi Scheduled Caste family.
parents and siblings
Chhota Rajan Sadashiv is the son of Sakharam Nikalje (peon) and Lakshmibai Sadashiv Nikalje. His mother died in Mumbai in 2014 at the age of 88. He has three brothers and two sisters named Sunita Chavan and Malini Sakpal. His younger brother Deepak Nikalje is associated with the Republican Party of India.
Chhota Rajan’s sisters
Chhota Rajan’s brother Deepak Nikalje
wife and children
Chhota Rajan is married to Nikita Baid. The couple has three daughters, Ankita Nikalje, Nikita Nikalje and Khushi Nikalje.
Chhota Rajan’s wedding photo
step into the world of crime
When Rajan was a teenager, he started selling movie tickets in black outside Shankar Cinema in Mumbai. Once, when Rajan was selling movie tickets in black, the Mumbai Police lathi-charged outside the cinema hall to crack down on black marketing. As soon as a policeman hit him with a baton, this made Rajan angry and he immediately snatched the baton from him and started beating him. This was Rajendra Sadashiv Nikhalje’s first encounter with the police. Many policemen were injured during the incident. After this the police arrested Rajendra. By the time Sadashiv was released from jail on bail, several gangs of criminals in Mumbai had kept an eye on him. Soon he joined the gang of gangster Rajan Nair i.e. Bada Rajan and entered the world of crime.
Shankar Cinema in Mumbai
criminal career
Rajan started by committing petty crimes in Chembur, Mumbai. After joining hands with Bada Rajan, Rajendra started getting involved in crimes like smuggling, extortion and drug trafficking. While Rajendra continued his business of black marketing of movie tickets, Bada Rajan’s rival Sanjeev Devadiga (who ran a country liquor shop near Sahakar Cinema and was also in the business of black marketing of tickets) tried to oust him. Business. Reportedly, Devadiga’s men used to keep some movie tickets with themselves after selling the tickets in black. He would often sit among the women during the show and tease them. This led to a clash between Bada Rajan’s group and Devadiga’s group. It was common for boys from both groups to have occasional fights. During one such controversy, Chhota Rajan along with a group of boys was booked under the controversial Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) in 1975. He was arrested and sentenced to jail for two years. Chhota Rajan came out of jail as a hardened criminal.
Rise of Chhota Rajan
According to some sources, in 1982, Bada Rajan’s enemies Pathan brothers, with the help of Abdul Kunju, got Bada Rajan killed outside the court. After the murder of Bada Rajan, the command of the gang came into the hands of Rajendra and soon he got the name ‘Chhota Rajan’. Rajan vows to avenge the death of his gang leader Bada Rajan. When Kunju came to know about Chhota Rajan’s intentions, he surrendered before the Crime Branch in 1983 to escape from Rajan. In April 1984, when the police took Kunju to the hospital for treatment, Rajan started firing at him. However, Kunju survived. After the incident, Dawood called Rajan to meet him and offered him to join his (Dawood’s) gang and he agreed. He soon tracked down Kunju and shot him dead at a cricket ground in Mumbai.
An old picture of Chhota Rajan
becoming david’s right hand man
Chhota Rajan impressed Dawood with his courageous nature and honesty. In 1987, Dawood sent Rajan to Dubai to take up an assignment, which he completed successfully. Becoming a member of Dawood’s group, Rajan used to take extortion money from builders and rich people in Mumbai.
An old picture of Chhota Rajan with Dawood Ibrahim
Gradually Dawood started trusting Rajan and their friendship increased manifold. Dawood started involving Rajan in all his decisions and Rajan became his right hand man. Their growing friendship intrigued Chhota Shakeel and he formed a team consisting of Sharad Shetty, Sunil Rawat and Shakeel himself. Both of them together instigated Dawood against Rajan.
Chhota Rajan with Dawood Ibrahim and his gang
separated from david
From 1984 to 1993, Rajan and Dawood were considered a deadly combination in the Mumbai underworld. However, there were differences between the two after the Mumbai serial blasts in 1993. At that time, Rajan formed an independent gang that often clashed with Dawood Ibrahim’s D-Company.
Chhota Rajan with Dawood Ibrahim’s gang
Reportedly, the main reason behind their split was the murder of Ibrahim Parkar, husband of Dawood’s sister Haseena Parkar, by Arun Gawli’s gang. Dawood wanted Rajan to avenge Ibrahim’s murder, but Rajan did not take his order seriously and continued carrying out his normal tasks. This gave Chhota Shakeel a chance to replace Rajan. Shakeel assured Dawood of his revenge, completing the operation successfully and causing the Dawood-Rajan split.
Dawood’s attempt to murder Chhota Rajan
After Rajan’s separation from Dawood, there was occasional gang war between the two. In September 2000, when Rajendra was attending a party at a hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, Dawood sent Chhota Shakeel to kill him. Before Shakeel could reach the hotel, Chhota Rajan got a call and was informed about the murder. Rajan soon reached the Indian Embassy and met an official there. Within a few hours he was sent to Kathmandu and from there to Malaysia.
Aaj Tak’s new clipping
The failed murder attempt proved costly for Dawood. In 2001, Rajan shot dead two of Dawood’s associates, Vinod and Sunil Sones, in Mumbai. Although his death did not affect Dawood much, in January 2003, members of Rajan’s gang shot dead Sharad, Dawood Ibrahim’s chief finance manager and money laundering agent, at the India Club in Dubai. This was a huge defeat for Dawood as the assassination attempt was carried out in what Dawood considered to be his backyard and the financial and monetary information of the crime syndicate operations managed by Sharad was never fully recovered by Dawood. Soon, Rajan left Dubai and went to Australia. After living in Australia for seven years, Chhota Rajan went to Bali, Indonesia on a fake passport (the name on the passport was Mohan Kumar).
Chhota Rajan’s fake passport
Murder of crime journalist Jyotirmoy Dey
In June 2011, Chhota Rajan hired a contract killer for Rs. Rs 5 lakh for attempt to murder senior crime reporter Jyotirmoy Dey in Mumbai. Reportedly, he ordered the murder because he was upset with his portrayal as a small-time crook in a book that Jay Dee was planning to write.
bright day
Arrest and conviction
In 2015, Rajan was captured in Bali, Indonesia, after Australian police said he had traveled to Bali with a fake Indian passport in the name of Mohan Kumar. Reportedly, he was clearing immigration when officials asked him to reveal his name. Rajan immediately revealed his original name as ‘Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje’ and then corrected his name to Mohan Kumar. This aroused suspicion in the minds of the authorities and they carried out an identification process.
Chhota Rajan in the custody of Bali authorities
During this time, 11 out of 18 points of his fingerprints matched the identity of Rajendra, which confirmed that he was Chhota Rajan. He was then deported to India on 6 November 2015.
Chhota Rajan arrested in Bali
In India, Rajan was sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment in 2017 in a fake passport case by a special CBI court in New Delhi. In 2018, he was convicted in the murder case of journalist J Dey and sentenced to life imprisonment by a Maharashtra MCOCA court.
Facts/General Knowledge
- Apart from Chhota Rajan, Rajendra is also known as Nana, a name given to him by Gujarati builders.
- Rajan was often bullied by his classmates during his school days. Once one of his classmates spilled ink on his shirt and he went to his teacher to complain about it. When he was in 8th grade, some of his classmates locked him in the school bathroom.
- Chhota Rajan was inspired by Haji Mastan, Karim Lala and Wardha Bhai to enter the world of crime.
- As of 2021, he is facing trial in over 70 cases of murder, extortion and drug trafficking.
- Reportedly, Rajan’s earnings in the 90s were around Rs. 80 lakh per month. He also owned about 122 unknown hotels and pubs in Mumbai.
- The 1999 Bollywood film “Vaastaav: The Reality” was based on the life of Chhota Rajan.
- In 2002, Vivek Oberoi’s character ‘Chandu’ in the film “Company” also resembled Rajan’s life.
Vivek Oberoi in the company
- In 2021, Chhota Rajan, serving a life sentence in Delhi’s Tihar Jail, was tested positive for COVID-19 on 22 April 2021. Subsequently, she was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) due to poor health conditions. Rajan recovered from COVID-19 and was moved back to Tihar Jail on 5 May 2021. There were rumors of his demise due to COVID-19 when he was admitted to the hospital.
Chhota Rajan admitted to AIIMS, Delhi
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Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn