Noted gangster and underworld don Rajendra Sadashiv Nikhalje alias Chhota Rajan, along with three others were convicted, today, in a fake passport case, by a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Earlier, the court, had framed charges and put on trail the then three retired public service personnel - Jayashree Dattatray Rahate, Deepak Natvarlal Shah and Lalitha Lakshmanan, who helped the gangster. Rajan was charged for procuring a fake passport from Bengaluru in 1998-99, in the name of Mohan Kumar, with the help of these three government officials. This is is the first case in which Chhota Rajan, who is facing around 70 cases, has been convicted.

The three accused, including Rajan have been charged for alleged offences under sections 420 (cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 467(forgery of valuable security or will), 419(cheating by impersonation) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and section 12 (offences and penalties) of the Passport Act.

Currently, Rajan is lodged in Tihar jail in Delhi, and his three aids are out of bail. The argument on quantum for sentence would be heard on Tuesday, says reports.

After being on the run for 27 years, Rajan was held by the Indonesian police on October 25, 2015. The don was deported to India on November 6, 2015. Rajan, once a close aide of Dawood Ibrahim, has been brought to the country to face trial in over 70 cases of murder, extortion and drug smuggling in Delhi and Mumbai.

By Supraja