New Delhi: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted bail to gangster Chhota Rajan, suspending his life sentence for the 2001 murder of hotelier Jaya Shetty. Earlier, on May 30, 2024, a special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court in Mumbai sentenced Rajan to life imprisonment.
A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan directed Rajan to furnish a bond of Rs one lakh for the bail. Earlier, Rajan had filed an appeal in the Bombay HC against the conviction. He sought that the sentence be suspended and he be granted bail in the interim, Live Mint reported.
Jaya Shetty, who owned the Golden Crown Hotel at Gamdevi in central Mumbai was murdered in May 2001. Apart from this, he also owned four restaurants in Mumbai, including one on Grant Road.
Two alleged gang members of Rajan’s gang allegedly shot dead Shetty on the hotel’s first floor on May 4. Investigations revealed that Shetty was receiving extortion calls from Hemant Pujari, a gang member, and was murdered after he did not comply with the demands for payment. Notably, Jaya Shetty’s security was withdrawn on his request just two months before his attack.
Though Rajan has been granted bail, he will continue to remain in jail in connection with other criminal cases. Rajan is already serving a life term for the murder of veteran crime reporter J Dey.
Notably, Chhota Rajan is accused in approximately 70 cases in Maharashtra, including the high-profile 2011 murder of journalist J Dey. The gangster was arrested at Bali airport in Indonesia on October 25, 2015 and subsequently deported to India. He is currently lodged at Delhi’s Tihar Jail.
