Underworld don Chhota Rajan falls in CBI net

Rajan gained widespread sympathy and public attention after he broke away from Dawood Ibrahim gang, condemning it for carrying out the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai.

Asked whether it was suspicious for the Indonesian authorities to find Rajan alone as police, rival gangs and mafias were looking for him, he said "of course it is very suspicious".

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and CBI Director Anil Sinha too confirmed the development.

A spokesperson for Australian Federal Police said Interpol in Canberra had alerted Indonesian authorities "who apprehended Nikalje at the request of Indian authorities".

"It is a major success".

Chhota Rajan is now a lonely man. This is what he has revealed to Indonesian Police during the initial interrogation after he was arrested at Bali airport on Sunday.

"A bigger concern is if the Indonesian government seeks a quid pro quo the negotiations could stretch for years", the source said, adding that the authorities in Bali haven't yet allowed them to speak with Rajan.

Rajan is expected to be deported to India; however, there is no official confirmation on the same as of now.

Rajan, born Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje, had claimed he was on a holiday in Bali, but the police find it suspicious, given the Interpol notice and threats from Dawood. The Bali police had been tipped off by Australia about a passenger with an Indian passport using the alias 'Mohan Kumar'.

Rajan had been living in Australia under another identity and had reportedly been in discussions with Indian authorities.

"But we don't know when the deportation will be conducted", he said. According to reports, he is set to be extradited to India in a few days. "This is an arrest of a person with a Red Corner Notice, for which a whole different protocol operates", India's ambassador to Indonesia, Gurjit Singh, said on Tuesday.

Nikalje, 55, is wanted in India on charges of murder, attempted murder, illegal weapons offences, conspiracy, and organised crime.

Y P Singh, IPS-officer-turned politician, termed Rajan's arrest as significant, saying it will help the investigating agencies to unearth unknown facts about the underworld-police-political nexus.