Ajit Kumar Doval, the former head of the Indian Intelligence Bureau (IB) has been trailing Chhota Rajan and his henchmen to get leaks on D gang’s activities for years.

by Chandramohan Puppala

Chhota Rajan’s ‘surrender’ in Indonesia was facilitated by Indian agencies last Wednesday.

Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje aka Chhota Rajan was travelling as Kumar Mohan from Sydney when he was ‘officially’ arrested at Bali airport on Sunday.

Coinciding with his surrender (officially detained last Wednesday), the crime branch of Mumbai raided all residential and commercial properties of Khushi developers (Chhota Rajan’s construction company) and his politician brother Deepak Nikhalje’s flats in Mumbai.

Ajit Kumar Doval, the 70-year-old National Security Advisor, is believed to be the brains behind the mission. Just a few days before Rajan’s arrest, Doval is reported to have spoken to a few people claiming to be in Indonesia.

With the surrender/arrest of Chhota Rajan, who is unwell and struggling to escape from his rival gangs, the current regime is hoping to get crucial evidence on global terrorist Dawood and his activities.

Agencies are working overtime to throw concrete evidence of the presence of Dawood in Pakistan under the ISI protection.

Doval — The Super Spy

· Ajit Kumar Doval, the former head of the Indian Intelligence Bureau (IB) has been trailing Chhota Rajan and his henchmen to get leaks on D gang’s activities for years.

· A media story brought him into limelight in 2008 when the IB reportedly planned to target Dawood Ibrahim at his daughter’s wedding with Javed Miandad’s son in Hyatt hotel, Dubai.

· Media reports had pointed out then that Doval worked out a plan for the IB to send Vicky Malhotra, a sharp shooter from Rajan gang, to target Dawood in Dubai.

· Unaware that the IB was collaborating with Rajan, Mumbai police under the leadership of Meera Borwankar had surprised the IB team by laying a trap for Vicky Malhotra and Farid Tanasha.

· Doval had to abandon the plan as the then DCP, Dhananjay Kamalakar of the Mumbai crime branch accompanied with his men, arrested the two shooters just as they about to leave for the airport.

· Even US cables quoted by WikiLeaks mention this incident.

· “Ignorant of the IB plan, Mumbai crime branch had intercepted Tanasha’s calls and reached Delhi. They had decided to take the sharpshooters by surprise. The retired IB officer failed to reason as Mumbai cops cited orders from their Boss Meeran Borwankar, and refused to back off.

· Doval had also been a media star during his role as a negotiator at Kandahar, where Indian Airlines flight IC-814 was hijacked with 160 passengers.

Chhota Rajan's past

· Chhota Rajan, once lynchpin of the D-Company has been a major tool of the Indian intelligence agencies to target Dawood's empire and splinter groups of the Mumbai Underworld.

· Rajendra Nikhalje, petty black marketer of cinema tickets was born and brought up in Tilaknagar, Chembur, took his name of his mentor Bada Rajan, who was murdered over supremacy war within his gang that ruled the central suburbs.

· Rajan’s stature as a gangster grew when he split from Dawood and established his own gang.

· After 1993 blasts, Rajan openly claimed himself to be Hindu don and won accolades from political parties like Shiv Sena.

· Mumbai police under the leadership of the then crime branch chief D Shivanandan had made a failed attempt to convince Chhota Rajan to surrender and help the Indian agencies to rein in Dawood.

· Rajan had survived a bid on his life in September 2000, when Dawood’s key aide Chhota Shakeel opened fire at him in Bangkok.

· Rajan’s escape from the hospital after he jumped from a first floor window was enacted in the Bollywood hit film ‘Company'. Shivanandan had a one to one discussion with Chhota Rajan during his visit to Bangkok hospital.

· Rajan is wanted for several murders, more attempted murders, drug trafficking, smuggling, extortion of Mumbai’s bollywood stars and funding of films.

· Rajan’s wife Sujata ran his empire out of Mumbai for several years and educated her daughters – Anita Nikhalje, Mala Nikhalje and Pallavi Nikhalje in a reputed international school.

· The second daughter pursued her MBA in UK and his brother Deepak Nikhalje is a politician who heads one of the splinter groups of RPI.

· Deepak Nikhalje stole the limelight when he was found sharing dais with Narendra Modi in one of the pre-election rallies in Mumbai.

· Chhota Rajan’s satellite phone calls to the Nikhalje family have been regularly monitored and his whereabouts were mostly traced to international seawaters in south east asia, Australia and Africa.

· Chhota Rajan’s human intelligence has been far superior to Dawood’s.

· The killing of OP Singh (former Rajan loyalist) inside Nashik Jail by DK Rao and other inmates was the most talked about incident in the history of underworld. The inmates were strategically moved inside the jail just to assassinate OP for the betrayal.

· Chhota Rajan’s former key associates Guru Satam, DK Rao, Santosh Shetty have already formed smaller gangs and are operating from Mumbai. Now, The tussle — "who will takeover the Rajan empire" will start among these small wing leaders.

*Puppala is a cross-media professional. Currently he is the editor-in-chief of Saam TV