Chhota Rajan handed life imprisonment in 2001 Mumbai hotelier Jaya Shetty murder case. All you need to know

Chhota Rajan, an underworld don whose real name is Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje, has been has been sentenced life imprisonment, hours after being convicted in a case involving the murder of hotelier Jaya Shetty in 2001. A Special court in Mumbai delivered the judgement on Thursday, convicting the gangster. 

A special judge for cases under the Maharashtra Control Of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), AM Patil, held Rajan guilty under the Indian Penal Code provisions for murder.

What is Jaya Shetty murder case?

Jaya Shetty was murdered in 2001. Shetty owned the Golden Crown Hotel at Gamdevi in central Mumbai. Jaya Shetty also owned four restaurants in Mumbai, including one on Grant Road.

Jaya Shetty was facing extortion threats from the Chhota Rajan gang. The hotelier had been provided police protection after he reported receiving extortion threats from the Chhota Rajan gang.

Jaya Shetty was shot dead by two alleged members of the gang on the hotel's first floor on May 4, 2001. Minutes after the murder, a close aide of Chhota Rajan's, Hemant Pujari, allegedly called the hotel and threatened to "wash out" the family if extortion money was not paid. Pujari remains a wanted suspect in the case. 

Jaya Shetty's security was withdrawn on his request two months before the attack.

What is Chhota Rajan accused of?

The special court in Mumbai found that Chhota Rajan, along with Ajay Mohite, Pramod Dhonde, and Rahul Pansare, had conspired to kill Jaya Shetty. The other three had been convicted earlier in the Jaya Shetty murder case. 

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 25 October 2015 and subsequently deported to India.

Since his deportation, Chhota Rajan has been held in judicial custody at Delhi's high-security Tihar prison.