- By Abhishek Sheoran
- Wed, 23 Oct 2024 11:54 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday suspended the sentence of gangster Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje, alias Chhota Rajan, and granted him bail in connection with the 2001 murder case of hotelier Jaya Shetty. This was Rajan's second life sentence, as he is already serving a similar sentence for the 2011 murder of journalist Jyotirmoy Dey.
On May 30, 2024, a special MCOCA Court convicted Rajan along with others and sentenced him to life imprisonment. He had filed a plea in the Mumbai High Court in this regard.
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The order has been pronounced by a bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj Chavan.
The gangster has to furnish a bail bond of Rs 1 Lakh. He will, however, continue to remain in jail in other criminal cases.
Jaya Shetty, the owner of the Golden Crown Hotel in Gamdevi, central Mumbai, was killed by two alleged members of Chhota Rajan's gang on May 4, 2001, on the hotel's first floor.
Investigations indicated that Shetty had been receiving extortion demands from Hemant Pujari, a gang member associated with Chhota Rajan, and his murder was linked to his inability to pay the extortion amount.
Rajan, who is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of veteran crime reporter J Dey, is incarcerated at Tihar jail in Delhi.