Long-absconding underworld don Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan, who was arrested in Indonesia and brought to India, was sent to 10 days' custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by a court in New Delhi, said officials on Saturday.
The probe agency booked Rajan and unknown public servants in a fake passport case.
The CBI has registered a case of criminal conspiracy, cheating, cheating by impersonation, forgery of document under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.
Apart from these cases, Rajan has also been charged by the agency under the Passport Act, 1967, and separate sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
"It has been alleged that Rajan got an Indian passport made in the fake name of Mohan Kumar with an address in Karnataka," said CBI sources.
Sources in the agency also confirmed that Rajan had reached Australia on September 22, 2003, on the strength of the same passport and a tourist visa.
"He later fraudulently obtained several different visas since then and continued to stay in Australia till October 25, 2015," the sources said.
The sources further informed that Rajan was then arrested by the Indonesian Police in Bali as soon as he landed there on his arrival from Australia on October 25.
"Rajan was arrested following a Red Corner Notice (RCN) issued by the Interpol. Subsequently, he was handed over to CBI-Interpol (India) for his deportation to India," said the sources.
The fugitive don was then brought to Delhi on Friday morning in a special aircraft, accompanied by officers of the CBI, and the Mumbai and Delhi Police.
He was taken straight to the CBI headquarters in New Delhi under tight security.
Rajan is wanted for over 85 crimes, ranging from murder to extortion, smuggling to drug trafficking. Apart from Maharashtra, he has cases against him in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and with the CBI.
Rajan, once a close aide of Dawood Ibrahim, parted ways with him before the conspiracy for the 1993 Mumbai blasts was hatched.
There was an attempt on Rajan's life in 2000 when Dawood's men tracked him to a hotel in Bangkok, but he managed a dramatic escape by jumping from the first floor of the hotel.
The Mumbai Police has nearly 75 cases registered against Rajan, including 20 of murder, four under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, one under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and over 20 cases under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act.
The Maharashtra government had earlier announced that it had handed over all its cases against Rajan to the CBI.
