Â鶹APP

10 Fascinating Facts about Chhota Rajan

Although mostly known by his nickname, Chhota Rajan, his real name is Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje. He is considered one of the most notorious Indian gangsters in Mumbai’s criminal underworld. He was born on 13 January 1959 in the Tilaknagar area of  Chembur, Bombay. Rajan is known for numerous criminal activities, including smuggling, extortion, and murder. He has been implicated in 70 murder cases and several attempted murders, making him one of the deadliest crime bosses of his time. Though now behind bars, Rajan’s life of crime is typical of a scene in a gangster Bollywood movie. From the violent exchanges with rival gangs and law enforcement, falling out with close associates, betrayal, being on the run for years, and his eventual capture, here are 10 fascinating facts about Chhota Rajan.

Read also; 20 Famous Indian Gangsters.

1. Rajan was born into a Dalit (untouchable) family

The caste system in India is still alive in practice today although discrimination based on class is prohibited in the Indian Constitution. Social status depends on one’s class on the ladder, and the Dalit is the lowest stratum of castes in India. The Dalits, previously referred to as the untouchables, are officially termed ‘scheduled castes’. They include the majority of oppressed peoples in Indian society. Rajan was born into a Dalit family living in the Tilaknagar area of Chembur in Bombay State. Chembur hosted many low-income families. He’d sell tickets in cinemas to earn a living in his early days.

45 Fun Facts about India.

2. His life of crime began at an early age

Rajan started as a petty offender, committing petty crimes in his home area, Chembur. Working at the Sahakar Cinema at some point, he turned to black marketing of cinema tickets. Ticket black marketing was a widespread criminal activity at the time, with the majority of those involved being youngsters such as Rajan. They would beat up policemen who attempted to halt their operations. Rajan was eventually arrested for assaulting a police constable and sent to jail.

3. He joined the Bada Rajan gang in the 1980s

Photo by on

Rajan’s notoriety had reached the ears of an Indian don in the underworld of Mumbai; Bada Rajan. Chhota Rajan led a group of young men in black marketing cinema tickets. After serving his time in prison for assaulting a police officer, he was released and immediately fell back into the world of crime. This time, however, Bada Rajan was willing to take him in and mentor him in the black marketing trade, and other forms of crime generally. He did this to increase his power and reach over the area, and soon, Chhota and Bada’s gang took over most of the crime in the eastern suburbs of Bombay.

4. Chhota Rajan means ‘younger Rajan’

Chhota Rajan is a moniker he earned in the 1980s when he joined Bada Rajan as a close associate. Before that, he went by his born name, Rajendra Nikalje. His mentor and boss at the time, Bada Rajan used a moniker too, as his real name was Rajan Mahadevan Nair. Bada Rajan translated to Elder Rajan. It follows that when Rajendra Nikalje joined Bada Rajan’s camp, he was christened Chhota Rajan, meaning younger Rajan. The two, ‘elder Rajan’ and ‘younger Rajan’ formed one of the strongest alliances at the time. Chhota Rajan became Nikalje’s name in the world of crime, and it stuck.

5. He became a mob boss after Bada Rajan’s death

Image by from

The underworld has a way of shifting the rules and pitting rising criminals against each other in a bid to establish who the real don is once in a while. Rival gang wars are not uncommon, and in the early 1980s, the rivalry between two conflicting sides of the Pathan Gang created an opportunity for Bada Rajan to establish his position in Mumbai’s underworld. The Pathan Gang had suffered a split, with Samad Khan on one side, and Dawood Ibrahim on the other. In 1982, Samad had Dawood’s elder brother, Saabir Ibrahim, killed. Dawood sought revenge, and Bada Rajan offered to do the job. He had one of his gang members kill Samad’s associate, Amirzada. Fifteen days later, Rajan was gunned down. Chhota Rajan was devastated, and as he took up the gang’s leadership as boss, he swore to avenge his mentor’s death.

Check out the 10 Most Famous Mafia Gangsters of all time.

6. Rajan was a close associate of Dawood Ibrahim

Chhota Rajan’s mentor, Bada Rajan had already established an alliance with mobster Dawood Ibrahim before his death. Being his successor, Chhota Rajan took it up, and formed an ever closer bond with Dawood Ibrahim, becoming his right-hand man. Dawood had formed the D-Company, a crime syndicate, in the 1970s. He is still active as of 2023 and has been on the run. He is wanted for murder, extortion, drug trafficking, smuggling, and terrorism. Rajan and Dawood worked together from the 1980s until the early 1990s.

Read more on Top 10 Facts about Mobster Dawood Ibrahim.

7. Rajan and Dawood fell out in 1993

The 1993 Bombay bombings caused a great rift in Dawood’s D-Company, and one of the major shifts was the split by Rajan from the group. The Bombay bombings took place on 12 March 1993, and they saw a series of 12 bomb attacks throughout Bombay. It was one of the most devastating events in the State’s history, and Dawood Ibrahim was believed to have been the mastermind behind the terrorist attack. He is tied to coordinating and providing logistics for the attack, alongside his subordinates Tiger Memon and Yakub Memon. An estimated total of 257 fatalities and 1,400 injuries were occasioned, and over 150 suspects were arrested. Yakub Memon was executed on 30 July 2015. Rajan was angered by the attacks, and he split from the organization, effectively terminating the alliance he’d had with Dawood Ibrahim.

8. Dawood attempted to have him assassinated in 2000

Photo by on

After his exit from Dawood’s organization, Rajan formed his gang. The two inevitably became sworn rivals, and violent conflicts between them became common. Some of these led to the deaths of members from either side. In 1994, Rajan had one of Dawood’s allies, Phillu Kahn tortured to death after luring him into a hotel in Bangkok. Phillu was one of those believed to have been involved in the 1993 Bombay attacks.  Dawood then tracked down Rajan in September 2000, in Bangkok. He had his associate, Chhota Shakeel lead the attack but only managed to kill Rajan’s hitman and his wife. Rajan escaped narrowly but got hurt after falling from the hotel’s roof. The failed assassination attempt cost Dawood greatly, as Rajan’s associate intensified their resolve to take revenge, killing two of his most trusted associates.

9. Rajan was arrested in Bali while still on the run

Image by from

Chhota Rajan was wanted for numerous crimes, including murder, extortion, and smuggling. He had managed to evade capture by hiding, and constantly moving across borders. However, on 20 October 2015, he was captured at the airport in Bali, Indonesia. Indian authorities had alerted Interpol to deport him to India for prosecution. Rajan had traveled to Bali with an Indian passport under the name Mohan Kumar. Australian police took note and tipped off law enforcement. He was identified by immigration officers who conducted fingerprint tests to confirm his identity.

10. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2018

Image by from

After being captured in Bali in 2015, Rajan was extradited to India for prosecution on 6 November 2016. He was wanted on charges totaling up to 70 cases, most of which he’s still awaiting trial in Tihar Jail. On 25 April 2017, he was sentenced to 7 years by a New Delhi court in a fake passport case. On 2 May 2018, Rajan was found guilty of the murder of journalist J.Dey by a Maharashtra court. For this, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Rajan’s reign in the underworld seems to have come to an end, but his name is still fresh in the world of crime.

Read more on 20 Most Famous Gangsters of All Time.