Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje (born 13 January 1959), popularly known by his moniker Chhota Rajan, is an Indian gangster who served as the boss of a major crime syndicate based in Mumbai. While living in Tilak Nagar, a big colony for the low-income group near Chembur, Mumbai, Rajan started as a petty black marketeer of cinema tickets at Sahakar Cinema. He was imprisoned for assaulting police constables. After being released from jail, he joined the Bada Rajan gang in 1982. After Bada Rajan was shot dead, Chhota Rajan took over the gang and worked for Dawood Ibrahim who had fled to Dubai. During the Arun Gawli – Dawood gang war in the late eighties, Rajan escaped to Dubai in 1989 and eventually rose to be the right hand of Dawood Ibrahim before splitting with him in 1993 and forming an independent gang that frequently clashed with Dawood's D-Company. He is wanted for many criminal cases that include extortion, murder, smuggling and drug trafficking. He is also wanted in 70 murder cases and several more attempted murders. It is said that Rajan finances a social organization called "Sahyadri Krida Mandal" that organizes the Ganesh Utsav in Tilaknagar, which has been Rajan's home base. Rajan's wife and two daughters continue to live in Tilaknagar. Rajan was arrested in Bali by Indonesian police on 25 October 2015. Rajan was extradited from Bali to India on 6 November 2015 after 27 years on the run and is currently awaiting trials for ongoing cases in custody. On 2 May 2018 he was convicted of murder of a journalist and handed life imprisonment. Criminal career Chhota Rajan was born in a Dalit family in the Tilaknagar area of Chembur, Bombay. He worked as a cinema ticket seller in his early days. He started his criminal career by committing petty crimes in Chembur. His mentor Bada Rajan introduced him to black marketing of cinema tickets at Sahakar cinema Ashok Theatre in the 1980s. His mentors were Bada Rajan and Yadagiri of Hyderabad under whom he learned the tricks of the trade. Once Bada Rajan was killed, Nikalje received the throne and the title—Chhota Rajan. For a short period, Dawood Ibrahim, Rajan and Arun Gawli worked together. Then, Gawli's elder brother Papa Gawli was assassinated over a drug deal and a rift formed. Rajan went to Dubai — his family is still here, apart from his wife in 1989