Chhota Rajan, one of India's most wanted gangster, has been arrested in the tourist town of Bali, Indonesia on a Red Corner Notice issued by Interpol after eluding law enforcement agencies for over two decades.
A fortnight after senior crime journalist Jyotirmoy Dey was shot dead, Mumbai police on Monday cracked the case claiming that underworld don Chhota Rajan was behind the murder, even as they remained tight-lipped about the motive.
The police booked him under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Crime Act for allegedly demanding money from a builder.
They were remanded in police custody till December 27 by MCOCA Judge Ashok Bhangale later in the afternoon.
A close associate of fugitive underworld don Chhota Rajan was on Monday arrested in Mumbai for his alleged involvement in the killing of senior journalist J Dey, police said.
Nikhalje was arrested under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act in 2005 and spent two years behind bars
Revealing his original name to immigration authorities when asked to step out of the queue at Bali in Indonesia landed underworld don Chhota Rajan in the security net and he was arrested soon after.
According to district officer Hardoi Mangla Prasad Singh, Khan Mubarak (43) had pneumonia and was undergoing treatment for the past several days.
According to Bali police sources, decks have been cleared for his return, but volcanic eruption at Mount Rinjani led to cancellation of all flights.
A joint team of CBI and police officers has left for Indonesia to seek deportation of underworld don Chhota Rajan, two days after India wrote a letter to the authorities there for his return to face trial in various criminal cases registered against him.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said that underworld don Chhota Rajan, who was nabbed at Bali airport on his arrival from Australia last month, will be brought to Mumbai.
Shetty was shot dead by two alleged members of Rajan's gang on the hotel's first floor on May 4, 2001.
The process for deportation of underworld don Chhota Rajan has begun even as India and Indonesia are to expedite the work on implementation of an extradition treaty.
A Delhi court on Friday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to consider the plea of underworld don Chhota Rajan's sisters, who sought its permission to meet their brother currently in the probe agency's custody, on the occasion of 'Bhai Dooj', saying they have not met him for the past 27 years and wanted to bless him.
According to immigration sources, the time of Rajan's deportation will be made clear by the Interpol after they quiz him and a final clearance is issued.
Underworld don Chhota Rajan was on Saturday sent to Central Bureau of Investigation custody by a court, a day after he was brought from Indonesian city of Bali.
The remarks come amid speculation that Rajan had feared elimination at the hands of Chhota Shakeel, the closest aide of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.
Twelve stamps each of Rajan and Bajrangi were printed under the 'My Stamp' scheme, which was launched by the department a few years back, an official added.
What once used to be a hut in this village in Faltan tehsil of Satara district in western Maharashtra has been replaced by a mansion, the best in the vicinity.
A sessions court on Wednesday granted bail to a close aide of fugitive gangster Chhota Rajan, in connection with the firing outside the residence of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's brother Iqbal Kaskar, in which, the latter's bodyguard-cum-driver was killed.
A recently-signed pact with Indonesia may come in handy for India to bring back arrested underworld don Chhota Rajan as the agreement allows deportation of criminals on either side based on a court warrant.
Security has been stepped up in and around Jail no 2 of Tihar prison where underworld don Chhota Rajan was lodged on Thursday after being remanded in a 14-day judicial custody.
Underworld don Chhota Rajan, who was arrested on arrival from Australia, on Sunday received consular access with an Indian diplomat.
When the team later reached the flat where they were staying, Chhota Rajan asked them to leave immediately, saying the operation was leaked to Dawood Ibrahim.
The state police has also requested the government to deploy paramilitary forces around the jail premises for the underworld don's security.
The RPI-A is an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
An officer within the Indonesian police was quoted by NDTV saying that Rajan is very scared, constantly smoking and doesn't talk to people.
The 55-year-old gangster was taken straight to the CBI headquarters where he was quizzed on Dawood Ibrahim, India's most-wanted terrorist.
An Indian police team on Monday for the first time questioned underworld don Chhota Rajan and officials believe that he could be deported to India in the next two-three days.
The agency says that it is exempted from the Right to Information Act.
In an explosive claim, arrested underworld don Chhota Rajan on Tuesday alleged that some officials in the Mumbai police are working with India's most wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim.
Mumbai police's high-profile encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma, who was sacked for his alleged criminal links, on Monday alleged that he was being framed by the underworld with the aim of removing him from the police department.Inspector Sharma, who had 112 encounter killings to his name in a career spanning over two decades, alleged that underworld don Chhota Rajan may have had a hand in his dismissal from police service.Sharma said he would challenge his dismissal.
The Maharashtra government for the first time has revealed the 'real motive' behind ace crime reporter Jyotirmoy Dey being killed by gangsters on the orders of underworld don Chhota Rajan.
Deported gangster Chhota Rajan was on Thursday produced before a special MCOCA court in Mumbai via video conference from Tihar Jail in connection with journalist J Dey's murder of 2011.
Underworld don Chhota Rajan's aide Rohit Thangappan, who was behind bars for the murder of senior scribe Jyotirmoy Dey, was on Wednesday arrested in connection with a firing case involving a hotelier, two days after a local court sought his production, the police said.
Vora and Paulson Joseph were acquitted due to lack of evidence.
Underworld don Chhota Rajan's brother Deepak Nikalje has been listed as a wanted accused along with 150 others in a rioting case in Mumbai, police said on Thursday.
Three persons have been arrested in connection with the sensational murder case of lawyer Shahid Azmi in Mumbai, the police said.
Special Judge A L Pansare allowed CBI's plea seeking nod to question the 54-year-old crime boss for 10 days starting January 27 before adjourning the case till February 5.
Chief Minister Ashok Chavan had signed the suspension order of five police officials -- Salve, Assistant Commisioner of Police Prakash Wani, Senior Inspector Tulsidas Khakar, Inspector Khalatkar and Constable Talu Salunke, an official in the Chief Minister's office said.
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