Mumbai 30 May : A court in Mumbai has sentenced mafia don Rajendra S. Nikhalje, also known as Chhota Rajan, to life in prison for the 2001 murder of hotelier Jaya Shetty. The court found Rajan guilty of the murder, which was carried out by two of his henchmen at a hotel in south Mumbai. Jaya Shetty had reported receiving threats from Rajan’s associates prior to the attack.
After Shetty reported the threats, he was given police protection, but he later requested to have it removed. This left him vulnerable to the attack, during which he was fatally shot. This is the second life sentence for Rajan, who was previously convicted in 2018 for the murder of journalist J. Dey in 2011.
Rajan, who is now 64 years old, fled to Dubai in 1989 and was on the run for nearly 27 years before being extradited from Indonesia in 2015. His arrest was a significant achievement for Indian law enforcement. Rajan also survived an assassination attempt in Bangkok in 2000, allegedly orchestrated by his rival, Dawood Ibrahim.