Gangster Chhota Rajan shifted to AIIMS for COVID-19 treatment amid second wave crisis

On Monday, Tihar jail authorities informed the Sessions court in Delhi that underworld don Rajendra Nikalje alias 'Chhota Rajan' has tested positive for COVID-19 and admitted to the New Delhi-based All India Institute of Medical Services (AIIMS). The 61-year-old criminal had been under high security in the Tihar prison in New Delhi since his arrest from Bali, Indonesia, in 2015. A special court was constituted after all the criminal cases pending against him in Mumbai were transferred to the CBI. 

Rajan was supposed to appear in the session court via video conferencing on Monday however the jail authorities informed that it was not possible as he tested positive for the virus. They further informed that he has been admitted to AIIMS.

The underworld don is facing nearly 70 criminal cases related to extortion and murder in Mumbai. Chhota Rajan was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment after he was convicted in the 2011 murder case of journalist Jyotirmoy Dey. He was acquitted with his aide last week in connection with the murder of Hanif Kadawala who was accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts case. 

The gangster being shifted to India's premier medical institution comes at a time when the country is gripped by a second wave of COVID-19 which is far more grave than the first, in terms of the number of active cases and the burden this is placing on the healthcare system.