Indian suspected of up to 20 murders nabbed in Bali

An Indian fugitive wanted over a series of murders in his country has been arrested in Indonesia after decades on the run, police said Monday.

Acting on a tip-off from Australian police, Indonesian authorities detained Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje on Sunday as he arrived in the popular resort island of Bali from Sydney, Bali police spokesman Heri Wiyanto told AFP.

The 55-year-old Nikalje, an alleged crime boss in India, had been on the run for two decades, Wiyanto said, with Interpol flagging him as a wanted man back in 1995.

"We received information from police in Canberra yesterday (Sunday) about the red notice for a murderer," he told AFP.

"We arrested the man at the airport yesterday. What we know is that this man was suspected to have carried out 15 to 20 murders in India."

Bali police were coordinating with Interpol and Indian authorities, Wiyanto said, adding it was likely Nikalje would be deported to India.

A spokesperson for Australian Federal Police said Interpol in Canberra had alerted Indonesian authorities "who apprehended Nikalje at the request of Indian authorities".

The federal police confirmed last month that Nikalje was living in Australia under another identity and had been in discussions with Indian authorities, the spokesperson said, but would not provide further details.

Interpol's website states that Nikalje was born in the Indian city of Mumbai, and was wanted for multiple charges including murder and possession and use of illegal firearms.

Nikalje - better known as Chotta Rajan - was in Australia, in hiding from his underworld rival Chhota Shakeel, an aide of one of the world's most wanted men, Dawood Ibrahim.

Nikalje too was reportedly an aide of Ibrahim until the two parted ways over the latter's role in the 1993 Bombay bombings.

Ibrahim, who is said to have close links to al-Qaeda, is wanted for co-ordinating the blasts, which killed more than 350 people.