Watch: Not afraid of anyone, a 'nervous' Chhota Rajan tells reporters in Indonesia

Chhota Rajan, aka Rajendra Nikalje, who was arrested by the Indonesian Police in Bali on Monday told reporters that he was not afraid of anyone. India’s most wanted gangsters, who is sought in more than two dozen murder cases, was arrested on Monday, ending a two-decade-long international manhunt.

Rajan has been on Interpol’s wanted list since 1995 for running a crime syndicate that engaged in extortion, arms smuggling and contract killing.

On Monday, TV reports said that Rajan has not received any representation from Indian government apart from consulate officials. According to a report by the CNN-IBN, the Indonesian Police are still waiting for Indian agencies to make the next move. “We have not interrogated Rajan yet. It’s upto Indian agencies to do so. Rajan has been cooperating so far. We have followed instructions from Interpol so far,” the report quoted Indonesian police as saying.

A  Hindustan Times report on Wednesday said a team of CBI officers will reach Bali on Thursday to begin the process of bringing him back via deportation. “Due to the sensitive nature of the diplomatic process and the fact that Rajan is a high-profile accused and faces threat to his life, the agency will disclose exact details when it is correct to do so,” a CBI source told The Hindustan Times.

Arunoday Mukharji, senior associate editor of CNN-IBN, said that Rajan avoided most of the questions asked by the reporters as he was taken away to the lock-up after his medical check-up.

Meanwhile, NDTV reported that when asked about Dawood Ibrahim, Rajan said, “I am not afraid of anyone”. The gangster was taken away by the police in Denpasar in Bali, where he was arrested on Sunday after a two-decade chase.

Speaking exclusively to the NDTV, Police Commissioner Reinhard Nainggolan said that Rajan had planned to escape to Zimbabwe. “He asked us to release him as he wanted to go to Zimbabwe. He said that he lived in Australia and before that in Zimbabwe and wanted to go there. He was looking to escape,” Nainggolan said.

According to the police, Rajan has been nervous since his arrest. “He is looking scared. He keeps smoking constantly,” reports quoted the police as saying.

His arrest comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government ratchets up diplomatic pressure on neighbour Pakistan to hand over his former partner and underworld boss, Dawood Ibrahim, suspected of militant links.

Ibrahim allegedly masterminded India’s deadliest bombings, which killed at least 250 people and wounded more than 700 in Mumbai in 1993.

Indian authorities say they have shared evidence of Ibrahim’s whereabouts with Pakistan, which rejects India’s claim that he is living there.

With inputs from agencies