He is said to have carried out 15 murders in India, the Bali police said after arresting him.
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Home Minister Rajnath Singh said after it is fully established that the arrested man is Chhota Rajan, “we will take appropriate action”.
The Home Minister thanked Indonesian government for the arrest, saying it was a “major success”.
“This particular opportunity has been lost with the arrest of Chhota Rajan. The process of verification and other details are on”, he said over phone from Bihar where he is campaigning.
An Australian Federal Police spokesman said that in September this year the AFP had confirmed that Nikalje was living in Australia under another name and advised the Indian authorities and Interpol.
Ibrahim is alleged to have masterminded India’s deadliest bombings, which killed at least 250 people and wounded more than 700 in Mumbai in 1993.
Chhota Rajan was arrested as he arrived from Sydney.
But on a day suddenly news surfaced that Rajan had escaped from the hospital, which was impossible without the support of the local police, said Singh.
Rajan, 55, operated from Chembur, a Mumbai suburb, and surroundings since the mid-1970s and later became a trusted henchman of Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, the absconding don from Mumbai who is reportedly hiding in Pakistan. He is also wanted in 17 murder cases and several more attempted murders.
Former IPS officer YP Singh said that while the arrest of Rajan – a one-time associate of Dawood – may be a legally desirable move, from the intelligence point of view, it was “something naive”.
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“Going by my past forgettable experience, I would say that neither am I excited nor very much hopeful because Rajan is yet to be deported to the country”.
