Did Chhota Rajan plan return for kidney transplant?

Here is another reason to believe that Chhota Rajan had planned his arrest - the 55-year-old gangster is in need of immediate kidney transplant. According to Crime Branch sources, Rajan had spent the past year planning his return to India, where one of his family members could donate a kidney to him.

Also read: Did Chhota Rajan surrender to protect himself from Dawood?

Rajan at the Bali police headquarters on Monday. Pic/AFP

"Both his kidneys have failed and he is on constant dialysis. He needs at least one new kidney to survive. A transplant was next to impossible on foreign land since he was in hiding," said an officer from the Crime Branch on the condition of anonymity. However, cops believe that if Rajan returns to India, the authorities will allow him to undergo kidney transplant.

Chhota Rajan is brought out from a holding cell at the Bali police headquarters on November 2. According to sources, he was prepared for his arrest and did not seem surprised when the authorities came for him. Pic/AFP

Long planning
Sources revealed that last year, Rajan or Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje had a detailed discussion with his family about his deteriorating health. The underworld don had been on the run for over two decades, and over the past few years, his kidney problems had worsened.

Also read: Indian police team questions Chhota Rajan

One of Rajan's nephews agreed to donate his kidney. After the discussion, Rajan underwent medical tests and mailed the reports to his family members. His relatives then visited a prominent hospital in south Mumbai and met a nephrologist to ascertain whether the nephew's kidney was a match.

The reports are believed to have matched, and this is one of the major reasons why Rajan might have surrendered. Cops believe that Rajan began planning his capture at the beginning of the year, with the help of Indian intelligence agencies.

He was finally arrested in Indonesia at Bali airport as he stepped off a Garuda Indonesia flight from Sydney on October 25. The local police had been tipped off that he would be travelling with a bogus passport issued under the alias Mohan Kumar.

Twin threats
The failing kidneys were not the only factor that prompted Rajan to turn himself in, as mid-day had highlighted in a front-page story upon his capture.

Sources said that Rajan had been afraid for his life ever since he ordered a hit on rival don Dawood Ibrahim's brother in 2011. Dawood's brother Iqbal Kaskar was not at home, but his driver Arif Sayyed Abu Bukha had lost his life in the shootout on May 17, 2011.

Thirsting for vengeance, Dawood and his right-hand man, Chhota Shakeel tried to eliminate Rajan several times and came quite close to it in Bangkok in 2000. Rajan was hit by bullets, but had managed to escape.

Also read: Home Ministry plans to nab Chhota Shakeel through Chhota Rajan's arrest

Shakeel planned a second attempt in July in Australia, where he had been hiding for some time. Shakeel joined hands with one of Rajan's own aides, but according to sources, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) overheard a telephonic conversation between them and tipped Rajan off. Thwarted yet again, Shakeel began to hatch yet another plot to eliminate Rajan in August.

"The threat perception and the organ failure seem to be the two prime reasons why Rajan had planned his surrender. On his return, the first thing the don will seek from the Indian judiciary is a organ transplant to be carried out at his own cost," the source revealed.