Chhota Rajan, an underworld don whose real name is Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje, has been sentenced to life imprisonment following his conviction in the 2001 murder of hotelier Jaya Shetty. The judgment was delivered on Thursday by a Special court in Mumbai.
Special Judge AM Patil, who handles cases under the Maharashtra Control Of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), found Rajan guilty under the Indian Penal Code for murder.
Jaya Shetty, the owner of Golden Crown Hotel in central Mumbai and four other restaurants including one on Grant Road, was murdered on May 4, 2001. Facing extortion threats from the Chhota Rajan gang, Shetty had been provided police protection but had it withdrawn two months before the attack. He was shot dead by two alleged gang members on the hotel’s first floor. Shortly after the murder, Hemant Pujari, a close aide of Rajan, allegedly called the hotel threatening to harm Shetty’s family if extortion money was not paid. Pujari remains a wanted suspect.
The special court found that Chhota Rajan conspired to kill Shetty along with Ajay Mohite, Pramod Dhonde, and Rahul Pansare, who had been convicted earlier.
Chhota Rajan faces charges in about 70 cases in Maharashtra, including the high-profile 2011 murder of journalist J Dey. He was arrested at Bali airport in Indonesia on October 25, 2015, and deported to India. Since then, he has been held in judicial custody at Delhi’s high-security Tihar prison.
