Chhota Rajan (file photo)
Bombay High Court has granted bail to gangster Chhota Rajan in the 2001 Jaya Shetty murder case. He was convicted in this case earlier this year and sentenced to life imprisonment. The division bench of Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Prithviraj Chavan has granted him bail on a bond of Rs 1 lakh.
Jaya Shetty was shot dead in the hotel
Jaya Shetty, who was facing extortion threats from the Chhota Rajan gang, was shot by two gang members on May 4, 2001, on the first floor of the hotel. The hotelier was provided police protection after receiving information about extortion threats from the Chhota Rajan gang. But his security was withdrawn on Shetty’s request two months before the attack.
Rajan gang had demanded ransom of Rs 50 crore from Jaya Shetty through Ravi Pujari. The other accused in the case, Ajay Mohite, Pramod Dhonde and Rahul Pawsare, were convicted in 2013 and sentenced to life imprisonment. At the same time, recently Chhota Rajan was convicted.
Chhota Rajan is lodged in Tihar jail
Several cases have been registered against Chhota Rajan for extortion and related crimes, so charges under MCOCA were also added against him and other accused in the hotelier’s murder case. Three other accused were convicted in the murder case in two previous separate trials and one was acquitted due to lack of evidence. Rajan is already serving life imprisonment in the 2011 murder case of journalist J Dey and is currently lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail.
How was he arrested?
Chhota Rajan, who used to escape every time with some trick or the other, also got trapped due to a phone call. Chhota Rajan always used to call through VOIP number, but that day he called through WhatsApp to inquire about the well being of one of his close ones. Security agencies tapped this call and were alerted. Rajan had said on the phone that he was not safe in Australia, that is why he would leave from here soon. After this the agencies contacted Interpol after which they also became alert.
On 25 October 2015, the Australian Federal Police came to know that an Indian man was going to Bali, the Federal Police informed the Bali Immigration Department through Interpol and as soon as Chhota Rajan’s plane reached Bali, he was caught. Then he was brought to India. At the time of his arrest, Rajan was very scared, he had told about the threat to his life, he had said that D Company was after his life. After this Rajan was sent to Tihar Jail.
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