Chennai: More than two decades after investigators uncovered a fake passport obtained in a false identity, a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Chennai has convicted Mumbai's one-time dreaded underworld don Chhota Rajan and sentenced him to seven years of rigorous imprisonment in the case.
The court also imposed a fine of ₹55,000 on Rajan, who was found guilty of cheating, forgery, impersonation and using forged documents to fraudulently secure an Indian passport. He is currently lodged in Tihar Jail in New Delhi, where he is serving a life sentence in another criminal case.
The case dates back to March 19, 2002, when the CBI registered an FIR alleging that Rajan had obtained a passport from the Regional Passport Office in Chennai by assuming a false identity and submitting fabricated documents.
According to the agency’s investigation, Rajan applied for the passport in the name of “Vijaya Kadam”, backing his application with forged records, including a school transfer certificate, ration card and demand draft. Investigators later established that the applicant was, in fact, Rajendra alias Nana, better known as Chhota Rajan, a Mumbai native and the son of Sadashiv.
The CBI alleged that Rajan impersonated Vijaya Kadam to secure the passport and subsequently used the fraudulently obtained travel document as genuine.
After completing its probe, the agency filed a chargesheet against Rajan on January 22, 2004. The trial culminated in the special CBI court holding him guilty on charges related to cheating, forgery, personation and the use of forged documents.
Rajan is already serving another life term prison sentence in Tihar Jail.
