Security officials describe how the gangster was brought back to India

Rajendra Nikhalje alias Chhota Rajan, who was detained by the Bali police on October 25, was carrying luggage for a 15-day holiday, the Crime Branch sources said on Saturday.
Rajan, who had been on the run for 27 years, was detained at the Bali airport after he landed there and was flown to Delhi on Friday morning and formally placed under arrest.
On the same day that he was detained, a seven-member team, comprising officials from the Mumbai Police Crime Branch, the Delhi Police Special Cell, and the Central Bureau of Investigation, flew to Bali armed with a detailed report of his history and the cases against him.
The team included two officers in the rank of Superintendent of Police or deputy commissioner, one deputy superintendent of police, two police inspectors, and two constables, said sources.
A police source said Rajan had three suitcases with him when he was detained. “His luggage contained an iPad, two iPhones, $9400, and enough clothes for a 15-day holiday. It was his first visit to Indonesia,” said the source.
Under CBI control
The team checked into a hotel in Bali and set up a command centre at one of the hotel rooms. The sources said that from the beginning, operational control was in the hands of the CBI officials, who kept all the others on a tight leash.
“To prevent any leak of information, everyone’s cellphones were kept at the command centre, and they were given phones with local SIM cards for temporary use. Incoming calls and text messages were also monitored by the CBI officials. Only calls from home and work-related calls were permitted,” the source added.
The team was not allowed direct communication with Rajan and all interaction with the local police was carried out through diplomatic channels.
“Our role was basically to file a request for extradition and be on standby so that Rajan could be flown to India. Even the Bali police’s investigation report was sent to the Central government and not shared with us,” said an officer, who was part of the team.
The volcanic eruption at Mount Rinjani, near Bali, delayed the process by a day, and, for the next 24 hours, the team was sitting at the command centre monitoring the movement of the ash cloud and its impact on flights.
Finally, on Thursday night, as the airspace cleared, Rajan was officially handed over to the team at the Bali airport. He was taken aboard a special government chartered flight, where his handcuffs were removed and members of the team took seats around him.
No communication
Sources said the team had orders from their superiors not to say a word to Rajan during the ten-hour flight. “We handed him his packet of food, which he ate in silence, and then settled down in our seats. We took turns watching him in two-hour shifts but did not say anything to him or to each other,” another officer said.
The officer confirmed that Rajan kissed the ground as soon as he landed in Delhi at dawn on Friday, and that a dummy was used to divert attention from him, while he was taken to the CBI headquarters.