look news india
Mumbai: Gangster Chhota Rajan alias Rajendra Sadashiv Nickel has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a special court in the 2001 murder case of hotelier Jaya Shetty. Rajan has also been fined Rs 16 lakh. The testimony of Shetty's son proved to be crucial in this case.
M. Iskar Patil, the special judge for the case under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), found Rajan guilty of murder. Jaya Shetty was the owner of the Golden Crown Hotel in Gamdevi. Shetty was shot dead by two members of the Rajan gang on the first floor of the hotel on May 4, 2001. Her security was withdrawn two months ago following Shetty's request.
The detailed court order is not yet available. The police have registered a case of murder on the complaint of the hotel manager. Investigation into the case revealed that Shetty was receiving threatening calls for ransom from Hemant Pujari of the Chhota Rajan gang and he was murdered when he did not pay the ransom.
Shetty's son told the court that he had been receiving extortion threats since 1999. After his father's murder, he received a call saying it was his turn.
Several cases have been registered against Raj for extortion and other related crimes. A stringent section under MCOCA was invoked against Rajan and others in the hotelier's murder case. Along with Chhota Rajan, three other accused in the murder case namely Ajay Mohite, Pramod Dhonde and Rahul Pansare have already been convicted in two separate proceedings and one was acquitted for lack of evidence
Rajan is already serving a sentence in the 2011 journalist J Dey murder case and is lodged in Delhi's Tihar jail.
