Chotta Rajan

Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje (Marathi: राजन निखालजे) alias Chotta Rajan (Translation: "Little" Rajan) is a former key aide and lieutenant of Dawood Ibrahim. A petty thief and bootlegger working for Bada Rajan (Translation: "Big" Rajan, real name: Rajan Nair), Chotta Rajan took over the reins of the gang after Bada Rajan's murder. Later, he operated at the behest of Dawood in Mumbai and eventually fled India to Dubai in 1988. He is wanted for many criminal cases that include extortion, murder, smuggling, drug trafficking and film finance. His brother is said to produce films financed by Rajan. He is also wanted in 17 murder cases and several more attempted murders. Today, arch rivals Chotta Rajan and Dawood Ibrahim are believed to be the most powerful underworld dons of the Mumbai Underworld.

plit with Dawood

Chota Rajan parted ways with Dawood Ibrahim, after the Bombay bomb blast, blaming him for anti Hindu and anti national acts. It is speculated that religious differences between the two - Rajan is a Hindu, and Dawood, a Muslim - contributed to the split. The break up between Rajan and Ibrahim supposedly took place between 1991-1993. Some also say that the 12 March 1993 Bombay Bombings sparked off the split. Ever since the split, Rajan has formed his own gang. Reports of bloody shootouts between Rajan's and Dawood's hoodlums have been common since the split. In 1994, Rajan lured Dawood's aide-the flamboyant yet dreaded gangster Phillu Khan (also known as Bakhtiar Ahmed Khan)-into a hotel room in Bangkok, where he was killed.

Assassination Attempt

In September 2000 Dawood finally tracked down Rajan. Sharad Shetty, one the few Hindus still left in Dawood organisation post the Mumbai bombings, used his links with Mumbai based hotelier Vinod Shetty to track down Rajan in Bangkok, [http://www.the-week.com/23feb02/events11.htm] Dead link|date=July 2008] Dawood's aide Chotta Shakeel then led the hit. Posing as pizza delivery men they gunned down trusted Rajan hitman Rohit Varma and his wife. However their aim of killing Rajan failed as he made a daring, movie style escape along Bangkok's rooftops. He then recovered in hospital and slipped away to evade capture.

Rajan Strikes Back

This failed murder was to prove costly for Dawood. Firstly Vinod Shetty was eliminated in 2001 as well as Sunil Soans - another who helped track down Rajan.

Though in the end these killings did not significantly disrupt D-Company. However in January 2002 Sharad Shetty - Dawood's financier and right hand man - was gunned down in the India Club in Dubai. This brazen killing was emblematic of the shift of power between Dawood and Rajan. Shetty's death dealt a near fatal blow to D-Company; one from which it has never fully recovered.

Whereabouts at present

Ever since the Bombay blasts, both of them have absconded from Mumbai. Dawood is currently believed to be living in some African country after moving from Dubai and Pakistan. Whereas Rajan is believed to be staying in either Kenya or Malaysia or Calgary (Canada). In 1995, the Interpol, on being asked to issue a warrant for his arrest by the CBI, did so but Malaysia chose not to execute the warrant. He continues to operate extortion rings in India through his men in Mumbai and other cities and is rumored to own several luxury hotels in South-East Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Several of his former gang members such as the Pujari trio (Hemant, Ravi and Harish) and Vicky Malhotra have formed breakaway gangs of their own and continue to operate in the suburbs of Bombay. His family continues to stay in Mumbai and it is speculated that his nephew is now actively involved. The Rajan gang are very innovative in their extortion tactics, using the likes of dreaded Vasai based Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Malcolm Pestonji,M.S., to recover the loot on his behalf-e.g. the doctor would summon businessmen to his nursing home in Vasai and threaten them to pay up. Nabbed by a police undercover team a few years ago, Dr. Pestonji cooled his heels for some time in jail, under TADA, before being released.

In popular culture

Many films have been shot based on the stories of Mumbai underworld influenced by Chota Rajan.
* a loose version of the split has been pictured in the film Company (film),produced by Ram Gopal Verma.

Notes