Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje, sometimes referred to as Chhota Rajan, was the leader of a significant Mumbai-based criminal organization and an Indian gangster who was convicted of his crimes. He was born on January 13, 1960.

Rajan began his career at Sahakar Cinema as a small-time black marketeer of movie tickets while residing in Tilak Nagar, a large neighborhood for the lower class near Chembur, Mumbai. Because he attacked police constables, he was sent in jail. In 1982, following his release from prison, he became a member of the Bada Rajan group. Following Bada Rajan’s shooting death, Chhota Rajan became leadership of the group and served Dawood Ibrahim, who had absconded to Dubai.

Chhota Rajan Biography

Full Name	Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje
Nick name	Chhota Rajan
Age	64 years
Date of birth	13 January 1960
birth place	Chembur, Bombay, Bombay State, India
Nationality	Indian
Spouse	Sujata Nikalje
Children	3
Height	1.62 m

Chhota Rajan Early Life

Coming from a modest background, Rajan grew up in the Tilak Nagar area of Mumbai. His early life was not without challenges, as poverty and the tough neighborhood he lived in exposed him to a life of crime from a young age.

 Chota Rajan family

Rajan’s wife and two daughters continue to live in Tilaknagar. Rajan was arrested in Bali by Indonesian police on 25 October 2015. Rajan was extradited from Bali to India on 6 November 2015 after 27 years on the run and is currently awaiting trials for ongoing cases in custody.

Chhota Rajan biography

Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje, sometimes referred to as Chhota Rajan, was the leader of a significant Mumbai-based criminal organization and an Indian gangster who was convicted of his crimes. He was born on January 13, 1960.

Rajan began his career at Sahakar Cinema as a small-time black marketeer of movie tickets while residing in Tilak Nagar, a large neighborhood for the lower class near Chembur, Mumbai. Because he attacked police constables, he was sent in jail. In 1982, following his release from prison, he became a member of the Bada Rajan group. Following Bada Rajan’s shooting death, Chhota Rajan became leadership of the group and served Dawood Ibrahim, who had absconded to Dubai.

After fleeing to Dubai in 1989, Rajan finally became Dawood Ibrahim’s right hand man. However, they broke up in 1993 and formed their own gang, which regularly clashed with Dawood’s D-Company. He is wanted in connection with numerous crimes, including narcotics trafficking, smuggling, murder, and extortion. In addition, he is wanted in numerous attempted killings as well as 70 murder cases. According to rumors, Rajan provides funding for the “Sahyadri Krida Mandal,” a social group that oversees the Ganesh Utsav in Tilaknagar, Rajan’s hometown. The two daughters and Rajan’s wife are still residing in Tilaknagar.

Chota Rajan Criminal career

In the Tilaknagar neighborhood of Chembur, Bombay, Chhota Rajan was born into a household. In his early years, he worked selling movie tickets. He began his criminal career in Chembur conducting small-time crimes. In the 1980s, he was first exposed to black selling of movie tickets at Sahakar theater Ashok Theatre by his instructor Bada Rajan.

He received the trade secrets from his masters, Yadagiri and Bada Rajan of Hyderabad. Nikalje inherited the throne and the title Chhota Rajan following the death of Bada Rajan. Dawood Ibrahim, Rajan, and Arun Gawli collaborated for a little while. Then a split developed after the death of Gawli’s older brother, Papa Gawli, due to a heroin deal.[Reference required] Rajan moved to Dubai, where his family remains.

away from his spouse in 1989 to attend Ibrahim’s brother Noora’s wedding. He didn’t come back. Ibrahim and Rajan had a falling out following the Bombay bombings in 1993. According to some stories, he even provided information about Ibrahim’s network to the Research and Analysis Wing. The Ibrahim-Rajan party came to an unceremonious end in September 2000 when Rajan was attacked in his Bangkok hotel room by Chhota Shakeel.[Reference required]

Rajan was taken into custody on October 26, 2015, in Bali. Following a tip from Australian law enforcement, Rajan was apprehended by Indonesian authorities on Sunday while he was traveling from Sydney to Bali.

Chhota Rajan Personal life

Sujata Nikalje is Rajan’s wife. Ankita Nikalje, Nikita Nikalje, and Khushi Nikalje are the couple’s three daughters. Representative Ramdas Athawale of the Republican Party of India is connected to his younger brother Deepak Nikalje.

Rajan’s friends and coworkers called him “Nana.” Another name for his group was Nana Company.

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Split with Dawood

He started his own gang following the break. Ever since the split, there have been numerous reports of violent shootouts between Rajan and Dawood’s thugs. One of Dawood’s favorite “narco-terrorists,” Phillu Khan, also known as Bakhtiyar Ahmed Khan, was enticed by Rajan to a hotel room in Bangkok in 1994. There, he was tortured to death after being betrayed by Mangesh “Mangya” Pawar, his closest ally.

Mangya and Phillu were both involved in the 1993 explosions because, on March 15, 1993, police filed files claiming their involvement in the explosions. To date, Rajan gunmen have killed ten persons who were allegedly involved in the explosion.

Assassination attempt

Dawood found Rajan in Bangkok in September of 2000. Using his connections with Vinod, a hotelier in Mumbai, and A. Mishra, he was able to locate Rajan in the city. The hit was then led by Dawood’s assistant Chhota Shakeel. They killed the dependable Rajan hitman Rohit Varma and his wife by shooting him while posing as a pizza delivery guy. Unfortunately, Rajan managed to escape through the hotel’s roof and fire escape, defeating their plan to kill him. After recuperating in a hospital, he stole away to avoid being apprehended.

Rajan attempted to flee by jumping out of the window of the first-floor room where he was attacked, according to Dawood Ibrahim, who confirmed the attack over the phone to Rediff.com. But during the fall, he injured his back and had to be hospitalized For Dawood, this botched assassination attempt proved costly. In 2001, Rajan’s accomplices located Vinod in Mumbai and shot him dead, along with another Dawood member named Sunil Soans. Vinod had informed Dawood’s associates of Rajan’s whereabouts, as had Sunil.

In Cinema

Actor Vivek Oberoi played the role Chandu in the 2002 Bollywood film Company, who has some similarities with the real-life Dawood Ibrahim gang’s Chhota Rajan. Additionally, Rajan’s life served as a loose basis for Sanjay Dutt’s 1999 movie Vaastav: The Reality. The character of Chhota Rajan was also included in the OTT series Bambai Meri Jaan.

Chhota Rajan Arrested

The gangster — whose real name is Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje — was arrested by the Indonesian police in October 2015 and later extradited from Bali to India. Rajan spent nearly three decades on the run prior to his arrest and is believed to have been the former right-hand man of Dawood Ibrahim.

Latest Update

Rajan is currently lodged in a high-security cell in Jail No. 2 of Tihar Jail. While this photograph dispels rumours of his death during Covid pandemic or of ill-health, its release at this stage has also rekindled fears of an attack on him in jail, leaving the intelligence agencies alarmed.