Underworld don Chhota Rajan, who was lodged in Delhi's Tihar jail, has been admitted to AIIMS for treatment. Delhi Police has deployed a tight security cover in the ward in AIIMS where underworld don Chhota Rajan is admitted. It is unclear as of now as to what his condition is.
In May 2024, a special court in Mumbai sentenced gangster Chhota Rajan to life imprisonment for his role in the 2001 murder of hotelier Jaya Shetty. This sentence came around six years after Rajan was given a similar punishment for murdering journalist J Dey.
Special judge AM Patil, presiding over cases under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), found Rajan guilty of murder (Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code), criminal conspiracy (Section 120B), and violations of MCOCA.
Following the conviction, the court imposed a life sentence on Rajan, who is currently incarcerated in Tihar Jail in Delhi and levied a fine of Rs 16 lakh on him.
Rajan, whose real name is Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje, was arrested by Indonesian authorities in October 2015 before being extradited from Bali to India. After evading capture for nearly three decades, he was believed to have been a close associate of the notorious underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.
With this conviction, Rajan has now been found guilty in seven cases, including six in Mumbai. In 2018, a special MCOCA court sentenced him to life imprisonment for the murder of senior crime journalist J Dey.
Jaya Shetty, the owner of the Golden Crown Hotel in central Mumbai’s Gamdevi area, was shot dead on the hotel’s first floor on May 4, 2001. The prosecution stated that Shetty's murder was carried out by members of Rajan’s organised crime syndicate. Ajay Mohite, along with Kundansingh Rawat, both associates of Rajan, carried out the shooting. Mohite was apprehended on the spot with weapons in his possession.
In 2023, a special CBI court acquitted Rajan of masterminding the 1997 murder of Mumbai trade union leader Dr Datta Samant. However, despite this acquittal, Rajan remains in custody as he faces ongoing trials in several other cases across the country.