Turn on the television and all you see splattered on the news is the Chhota Rajan capture in Indonesia. With that, there’s a fresh turn to the decades old Chhota Rajan-Dawood enmity.
A recent video released by TimesNow shows Chhota Rajan aka “Nana” being handled by Bali police in which he claims that a few Mumbai Police officials are involved with Dawood and he doesn’t scare him enough for backing down from retaliating against Dawood’s moves. Chhota Rajan used to be one of  Dawood’s closest aides in their early days.
That makes one wonder, how exactly did these two turn into sworn enemies?
1. How Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje Became “CHHOTA RAJAN”
-Nikalje started as a petty black ticket vendor at Sahakar Cinema, Chembur, Mumbai driven by illiteracy & poverty.
-He chanced to meet Rajan Nair (Bada Rajan, who then headed a small gang) who taught him the tricks of the trade and made him his second in arms.
-After the murder of Bada Rajan by rival gangs, Chhota Rajan took over his business and became one of the big shots of the Mumbai underbelly.
-He avenged the murder of Bada Rajan and made a mark for himself in the world of gangsters.
-He is wanted for murder, extortion and smuggling of drugs.
2. Â Dawood’s stature as a “Gold man” was already set by the time he came in contact with Chhota Rajan.
-He was an established gold smuggler and had gained a notorious reputation among his peers and the police.
-He’s known to be a key player in the Mumbai blasts in 1993.
-He’s No.1 on India’s most wanted list and has had deep connections into Bollywood & Indian politics.
3. Dawood recruited Chhota Rajan as his lieutenant and provider of contract killers.
-CR (Chhota Rajan) took care of D’s faction in Mumbai after the latter fled to Dubai.
-Chhota Rajan also relocated to Dubai in late 80’s  and established himself as an NRI don under Dawood’s tutelage.
4. Rifts arose when Papa Gawli, Arun Gawli’s(gangster turned politician and close associate of both Dawood & Chhota Rajan) elder brother was killed in 1990 and a D-henchman killed CR groupies in ’92.
5. And after ’93 blasts in Mumbai, Rajan separated himself citing religious reasons.
-It was the year Babri Masjid was demolished & in the eye of religious contempt rampant throughout the country, Chhota Rajan feared he would be eliminated by the crime boss (Dawood).
-Also, D’s prime sharp shooters  jumped ship and joined Chhota Rajan.
-After this, major blood spilling ensued on both sides until 2010.A lot of tit-for-tat killings took place.
-Shiv Sena was in power in coalition with BJP during ’94-’99, and openly expressed their affinity towards Chhota Rajan as he claimed he was taking revenge for the Mumbai blasts as a “Hindu Don”.
-Chhota Rajan has also been rumored to have provided Indian Intelligence with intel about Dawood’s actions and whereabouts in the past.
Now that Chhota Rajan is in India’s possession, reaching Dawood isn’t be a far off dream.