JAKARTA: An alleged Indian crime boss wanted in his home country for up to 20 murders has been arrested in Indonesia after two decades on the run, police said on Monday.

Acting on a tip-off from Australian police, Indonesian authorities detained Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje on Sunday as he arrived in the popular resort island of Bali from Sydney, Bali police spokesman Heri Wiyanto said.

The 55-year-old Nikalje, known in India as Chhota Rajan, had been evading police in several countries for years, with Interpol flagging him as a wanted man back in 1995.

“We received information from police in Canberra yesterday (Sunday) about the red notice for a murderer,” Wiyanto said.

“We arrested the man at the airport yesterday. What we know is that this man was suspected to have carried out 15 to 20 murders in India”. Nikalje was the alleged former right-hand man of Mumbai crime kingpin Dawood Ibrahim, who is suspected of being behind the 1993 bomb blasts in the city that killed more than 250 people.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2015

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