Chennai, July 30 (IANS) A Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Court in Chennai on Thursday sentenced gangster Chota Rajan to seven years’ imprisonment after finding him guilty of fraudulently obtaining an Indian passport using forged documents and a false identity.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 55,000 on the convict for offences, including cheating, forgery, personation and the use of fabricated documents to secure a passport.

Chota Rajan, whose real name is Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje and who is also known by aliases, including Vijaya Kadam, Rajendra and Nana, is currently lodged in Tihar Jail in New Delhi.

He is already serving a life sentence in another criminal case.

The seven-year sentence relates specifically to the passport fraud case investigated by the CBI.

According to the CBI, the case was registered on March 19, 2002, following allegations that Rajan had fraudulently secured an Indian passport from the Regional Passport Office in Chennai by submitting forged identity and residential documents.

Investigators found that he had applied for the passport under the false name “Vijaya Kadam” and supported the application with fabricated records, including a school transfer certificate, ration card and other documents intended to establish his identity, age and place of residence.

During the investigation, the CBI established that the applicant identifying himself as Vijaya Kadam was, in fact, Chota Rajan.

The central probe agency said that Chota Rajan had impersonated another individual and knowingly submitted forged documents to deceive passport authorities.

The fraud enabled him to obtain an official Indian passport, which investigators said that he subsequently used as a genuine travel document.

After completing its investigation, the CBI filed a chargesheet against Rajan on January 22, 2004.

The trial continued over the following years before the Special CBI Court delivered its judgment on Thursday.

The court convicted Rajan on multiple counts, including cheating, forgery, cheating by personation and knowingly using forged documents as genuine for obtaining a passport.

It then awarded him seven years of imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 55,000.

The conviction marks the conclusion of a case that has remained pending for more than two decades and reinforces the legal consequences for obtaining official identity documents through forged records and fraudulent means.

–IANS

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