Notorious underworld don Chhota Rajan, who is currently serving a life sentence in Tihar Jail, has been admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi for sinus treatment. According to doctors at the hospital, Rajan may require surgery, prompting his admission.
Chhota Rajan, whose real name is Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje, has been a prominent figure in India’s criminal underworld for decades. He was arrested by Indonesian police in October 2015 in Bali and subsequently extradited to India. Before his arrest, Rajan spent nearly three decades evading authorities.
The gangster, once a close associate of fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, later parted ways and became a rival. He has been implicated in numerous criminal cases, including murder, extortion, and smuggling.
In May last year, a special court in Mumbai sentenced Chhota Rajan to life imprisonment for the murder of hotelier Jaya Shetty in 2001. Shetty, the owner of the Golden Crown Hotel in Mumbai’s Gamdevi area, was shot dead on the hotel’s first floor on May 4, 2001.
The court, at the time, imposed a fine of Rs 16 lakh along with the life sentence. With this verdict, Chhota Rajan has now been convicted in seven cases, six of which are in Mumbai.
Chhota Rajan was previously sentenced to life imprisonment in 2018 for the murder of investigative journalist J Dey. The journalist was killed in a shooting incident in Powai, Mumbai, in June 2011.
As one of India’s most notorious gangsters, Chhota Rajan’s health condition remains under close observation. The details of his potential surgery at AIIMS are yet to be disclosed.
