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Chhota Rajan Biography: Age, Career, Family and More

F4U Editorial Desk • Updated October 4, 2026 • 4 min read

Quick Info

Date of birth13 January 1959

Age65 Years

BirthplaceTilaknagar, Chembur, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

ProfessionGangster

NationalityIndian

Marital statusMarried

SpouseSujata Nikalje

FamilyDaughters: Khushi Nikalje, Ankita Nikalje, Nikita Nikalje

Chhota Rajan Biography

Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje, known as Chhota Rajan, rose from a lower-middle-class neighbourhood in Chembur, Mumbai to become a prominent figure in India’s 0

Early life and background

Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje was born on 13 January 1959 in the Tilaknagar area of Chembur, Mumbai. Raised in a Marathi-speaking, lower-middle-class family, he attended Amchi Shala Marathi-medium school in Tilak Nagar but left formal education during class 11. His upbringing in Chembur shaped his early years and the neighbourhood figures he encountered.

As a teenager he did small jobs to support himself and worked selling cinema tickets outside Shankar Cinema. Encounters with local street conflicts and with the police brought him to the attention of local gangs. Over time he moved from petty activities into more organised criminal work.

Career

After an early period under the influence of the local gang leader Bada Rajan, Rajendra became involved in crimes that included extortion, smuggling and drug trafficking. A stint in detention under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) in 1975 kept him imprisoned for two years and further entrenched him in the criminal milieu.

Following the killing of Bada Rajan in 1982, he rose to lead the gang and acquired the name Chhota Rajan. He sought revenge against rival figures involved in Bada Rajan’s death and over the 1980s came into the orbit of Dawood Ibrahim. Working with Dawood, he handled assignments, collected protection money, and in 1987 was sent to Dubai on organised tasks. His role and reliability led to him being regarded as Dawood’s right-hand for a period.

From the mid-1980s until the early 1990s, Chhota Rajan and Dawood Ibrahim were a dominant force in Mumbai’s underworld. Their alliance fractured after the 1993 Bombay blasts, and a split developed over matters including retaliation for the killing of a relative and disagreements about priorities. After the break with Dawood, Rajan established his own network and became involved in violent rivalries with former allies.

In the years that followed, Rajan was linked to several high-profile violent incidents, including the killings of associates of Dawood Ibrahim in Mumbai and an attack on a key Dawood associate in Dubai. He lived abroad for extended periods, including time in Dubai and seven years in Australia. He later travelled to Bali on a passport that was not in his real name.

Arrest, trials and imprisonment

Indonesian authorities, working with international agencies, detained him in Bali and he was extradited to India on 6 November 2015. In 2017 a special CBI court convicted him in the fake passport case and sentenced him to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment. In 2018 a Maharashtra MCOCA court found him guilty in the murder of journalist Jyotirmoy Dey and imposed a life term.

As of 2021 he was serving life imprisonment at Tihar Jail in Delhi and was facing trials in more than 70 cases including murder, extortion and drug smuggling.

Public profile

Chhota Rajan’s life and activities have drawn sustained attention from the media and from popular culture. Filmmakers and writers have referenced episodes of his life: the 1999 film Vaastav: The Reality was reportedly loosely based on his life, and a 2002 film character drew comparisons to aspects of his career. Reports in some sources from the 1990s attribute substantial monthly earnings and extensive business holdings to him.

Personal life

He is of Indian nationality, follows Hinduism, and is ethnically Marathi. He was born under the zodiac sign Capricorn. He married and is known to have children; among them are daughters named Khushi Nikalje, Ankita Nikalje and Nikita Nikalje. His parents are recorded as Sadasiv Sakharam Nikalje and Laxmibai Sadavshiv Nikalje. He has siblings including a brother, Deepak Nikalje, who has been associated with the Republican Party of India, and sisters Sunita Chavan and Malini Sakpal.

Health and recent public notes

In 2021 he tested positive for COVID-19 and was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) because of poor health; he later recovered and was returned to Tihar Jail. While hospitalized there were circulating reports about his condition.

Latest updates

Following his capture in Bali and extradition, court proceedings continued. Convictions in the fake passport case and in the murder of a journalist led to sentences that include rigorous imprisonment and life imprisonment. He remained incarcerated and subject to a large number of ongoing legal cases as of the most recent reports available.

Editorial Review and Sources

This F4U profile is written from publicly available career and profile information, then reviewed for clarity before publication. If you spot an outdated detail about Chhota Rajan, send the page URL and a reliable correction source to f4udotin@gmail.com.

Reference context: StarsUnfolded
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Recent Work

Conviction in fake passport case

Sentenced to seven years' rigorous imprisonment by a special CBI court in New Delhi.

2017
Conviction in journalist J. Dey murder case

Found guilty by a Maharashtra MCOCA court and given life imprisonment.

2018
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Career Highlights

  1. Rose from local street-level activity in Chembur to lead a gang after the death of Bada Rajan
  2. Became Dawood Ibrahim's right-hand in the late 1980s
  3. Split from Dawood after 1993 and led a separate criminal organisation
  4. Extradited from Bali to India in 2015 and subsequently convicted in major cases
Reviewed by F4U Editorial Desk

F4U profile pages are prepared from public career information, checked for readability, and updated when reliable correction sources are shared with the editorial team.

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Frequently Asked Questions

When was Chhota Rajan born?

Chhota Rajan was born on 13 January 1959.

What is Chhota Rajan known for?

Chhota Rajan is known for gangster.

What is Chhota Rajan’s marital status?

Chhota Rajan's marital status is listed as Married.

Who is Chhota Rajan married to?

Chhota Rajan is publicly listed as married to Sujata Nikalje.