Chhota Rajan, Indian underworld don and one of the country's most wanted crime syndicate bosses, has been arrested in the Indonesian tourist city of Bali, the Indonesian Interpol division said. The 55-year-old Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje, alias Chhota Rajan, had been on the run for more than 20 years.
India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday said Bali police arrested Rajan on a Red Corner Notice issued by the Interpol, according to Sahara Samay.
"We tracked Chhota Rajan's movements closely and informed the police in Indonesia and Australia. Eventually the Indonesian police managed to arrest him. We are making arrangements to bring him to India and pursue all criminal cases against him," CBI director Anil Sinha said, according to the Indian Express.
Indian government sources said that the fugitive mafioso is likely to be deported to India this week. Foreign ministers official also made it clear that India and Indonesia do not have a formal extradition treaty but that will not affect Rajan's deportation to India.
"We don't need to have a formal extradition treaty for somebody to be extradited to another country. There are various others means and arrangements in today's days and age ... and it has happened before," External Affairs Ministry Anil Wadhwa said, according to the Tribune India.
Rajan, a former protégé of India's most wanted underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, is wanted in 17 murder cases and several criminal cases that include attempted murder, extortion, smuggling, film finance and drug trafficking, according to DNAIndia.
