The Bombay High Court on Wednesday suspended the life sentence and granted bail to gangster Chhota Rajan in the 2001 murder of hotelier Jaya Shetty. A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan ordered Rajan to post a bond of Rs 1 lakh. Despite this ruling, Rajan remains in prison for his involvement in other criminal cases.
A special court sentenced Rajan to life imprisonment in May 2023 for masterminding Shetty's murder. He sought suspension of his sentence and probation in the High Court.
In 2001, two members of Rajan’s gang shot dead Shetty, the owner of the Golden Crown Hotel in central Mumbai. Investigations revealed that Shetty had received extortion threats from gangster Hemant Pujari and was killed for not paying money.
Rajan, who is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of journalist J Day in 2011, has been lodged in Delhi's Tihar jail.
Chhota Rajan’s imprisonment
Rajan remains in Delhi’s Tihar jail, where he is serving a life sentence for the 2011 murder of journalist J Day. He is facing various charges including extortion under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and involvement in several criminal cases. Three other co-accused in the Jaya Shetty murder case were convicted while one was acquitted for lack of evidence.
Chhota Rajan’s arrest and extradition
Notorious for evading arrest, Chhota Rajan was finally arrested in Bali, Indonesia, in 2015 after being on the run for years. The development came when Rajan made a WhatsApp call which was intercepted by security agencies. During the call, he expressed concern for his safety in Australia, which alerted Interpol. Rajan was arrested on arrival in Bali and later extradited to India. At the time of his arrest, Rajan reportedly feared for his life, saying he was being targeted by Dawood Ibrahim’s D-Company. After being released, he was sent to Tihar jail, where he has been at large ever since.
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