Underworld don Chhota Rajan dies due to Covid-19 at AIIMS

Underworld don and gangster Chhota Rajan died due to coronavirus disease (Covid-19) at All India Institute of Medical Services (AIIMS) New Delhi on Friday. Rajendra Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan was admitted to AIIMS on April 26. He was lodged in the high security Tihar prison in New Delhi following his arrest from Indonesia, in 2015.

On April 26, a Tihar jail official informed the sessions court that the gangster could not be produced via video conference before the judge for hearing as he had tested positive for Covid-19.

Rajan is an accused in at least 70 criminal cases in Maharashtra with connection to extortion and murder. A special court was constituted to try the criminal cases lodged against Rajan after all the cases pending against him in Mumbai were transferred to the CBI. He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the 2011 murder case of journalist Jyotirmoy Dey in 2018.