Chhota Rajan details on Dawood Ibrahim new and revealing: Sources

The capture and deportation of underworld gangster Rajendra Sadashiv Nikhalje, alias Chhota Rajan, was nothing short of dramatic.

Officials from the Intelligence Bureau, Research and Analysis Wing, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Delhi police's special cell jointly interrogated Rajan for hours on Friday.

Sources privy to the interrogation claimed that information provided by Rajan on rival don Dawood Ibrahim and his own network is new and revealing. There was speculation that his finances were in the red. However, sources say he has substantial investments in Australia, Thailand and Malaysia.

The elusive gangster, one of India's most wanted for the past 27 years, landed at the Palam technical area, New Delhi, shortly after 5 AM on Friday and was immediately whisked away to the custody of CBI – the nodal agency for the Interpol.

The CBI stated:"Rajendra Sadashiv Nikhalje alias Chhota Rajan alias Mohan Kumar has been successfully deported to India from Indonesia today morning." "He is in the custody of CBI-Interpol, and legal formalities are in the process.

He was brought back in a special chartered aircraft from Indonesia by Indian agencies to avert any possible threat to his life by rival don Dawood Ibrahim's henchmen.

Not ready to take any chances, the agencies had deployed unprecedented security arrangements on his arrival. From the Palam technical area, he was brought to the CBI headquarters under heavy security arrangements that included bullet-proof and dummy cars and a team of crack commandos.

The CBI can keep Rajan in custody for 24 hours, during which time he will have to be produced before a magistrate to seek further remand. The CBI is expected to seek Rajan's remand in a fake passport case. He had secured a fake passport during his stay in Australia in the name of Mohan Kumar.

Cases lodged against Rajan with the Mumbai police will be transferred to the CBI in a day. The six cases of the Delhi police will be pursued separately. Rajan, 55, is wanted in more than 70 cases of murder, extortion and drug trafficking in Mumbai, under various stringent laws like POTA and MCOCA.

A medical team from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences were brought in to conduct the mandatory medical examination on Rajan, after which he was pronounced medically stable and in no requirement of dialysis.

According to CBI sources, based on a tip-off from Australian agencies, Indonesian immigration officials pulled Rajan out of the immigration queue at Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport.

When asked about his identification, Rajan mistakenly replied with his real name –Rajendra Nikhalje, as opposed to Mohan Kumar – the name on the fake passport on which he was travelling. This faux pas led to his immediate arrest.

He later denied his original identity and refused to sign papers to that effect. Fingerprinting experts in Indonesia were called in to conduct tests and Rajan matched 11 out of 18 parameters that are required.

A seven-member unit that included officials from the CBI, Delhi police and Mumbai police arrived in Bali in mid-October to orchestrate the capture and arrest of the elusive gangster. This team had set up a control room and were in constant touch with the officers in New Delhi. Once arrested by Indonesian officials on October 25, the seven-member Indian unit facilitated Rajan's deportation to India and escorted the criminal on the special flight home.