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Gangster Chhota Rajan gets 7 years in jail in fake passport case after 22-year legal battle
Chhota Rajan, one of India's most notorious gangsters, split from Dawood Ibrahim after the 1993 Mumbai blasts, and is now serving multiple life sentences.
Gangster Chhota Rajan was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment by a special CBI court in Chennai on Thursday for securing an Indian passport under a fake identity using forged documents, the agency said. Rajan fraudulently secured a passport by assuming the identity of ‘Vijaya Kadam’ and submitting fake documents, including a school transfer certificate and a ration card, according to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
“The convict, Chhota Rajan, is presently lodged in Tihar Jail, New Delhi, where he is already undergoing rigorous imprisonment for life,” a CBI spokesperson told PTI.
Passport obtained using forged identity
The CBI registered an FIR on March 19, 2002, alleging that Rajan had applied for and obtained a passport by submitting forged documents, thereby cheating the Regional Passport Office in Chennai.
After investigating the case, the agency filed its chargesheet on January 22, 2004.
"The investigation revealed that the accused, Chhota Rajan, applied for an Indian passport in the name of Vijaya Kadam by submitting false documents... It was also found that the real name of Vijaya Kadam was Rajendra alias Nana alias Chhota Rajan, s/o Sadashiv, a resident of Mumbai," the spokesperson said.
The conviction comes after a 22-year legal battle, as per the agency.
Already serving multiple life terms
Rajan is currently in Delhi's Tihar Jail and is already serving life imprisonment in several criminal cases, HT reported earlier.
In September 2025, the Supreme Court set aside a Bombay High Court order that had suspended his life sentence in the 2001 murder of Mumbai hotelier Jaya Shetty and restored the punishment awarded by the trial court.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta allowed the CBI's appeal, observing that Rajan had multiple criminal convictions and had remained absconding for 27 years. During the hearing, the court noted, "Four convictions and absconded for 27 years...why suspension of sentence to such a man?"
Rajan was convicted in the Jaya Shetty murder case by a special MCOCA court in May 2024. The prosecution said Shetty, who owned several restaurants in Mumbai, was shot dead in 2001 after refusing to comply with extortion demands from Rajan's syndicate.
He is also serving a life sentence in the 2011 murder of journalist Jyotirmoy Dey and has been convicted in several other organised crime cases. According to the prosecution, Rajan has been convicted in seven of the 71 criminal cases registered against him, while several others remain pending.
