After being on the run for the past 27 years, underworld don Chhota Rajan was brought to New Delhi early Friday morning from Indonesia by a joint team headed by CBI officials for facing trial in various criminal cases registered against him in Delhi and Mumbai. The 55-year-old gangster, whose real name is Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje, will be kept in the national capital where he will be questioned by sleuths of various investigating agencies as he has been making claims of having further evidence to nail India's most wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim and his links with Pakistan's snooping agency ISI. Immediately after his arrival in New Delhi in an Indian Air Force Gulfstream-III aircraft from Indonesia's Bali, Rajan, who is considered as a 'friendly don' as he reportedly tipped Indian security agencies about the movement of Dawood and his aides, was whisked away to an undisclosed location under tight security.
Rajan was arrested on the basis of an Interpol Red Corner notice at Bali airport on October 25 after he had arrived in the island city of Indonesia from Australia.
India was keen that the deportation takes place at the earliest and had put in a request to Indonesian authorities immediately after his arrest, sources said.
However, his deportation was deferred by a day as the international airport in Bali was shut down due to spewing of volcanic ash from a nearby mountain.
Immediately after his flight took off, Indian Ambassador to Indonesia Gurjit Singh tweeted:
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#ChotaRajan deported successfully to India.Delay due to Bali airport closure ends. Thanks Indonesia for support.
— Gurjit Singh (@AmbGurjitSingh) November 5, 2015