Gangster Chhota Rajan (File) A special court on Monday acquitted gangster Chhota Rajan in the 2010 Bhendi Bazaar double murder case while sentencing two others to life imprisonment. Besides Rajan, the court acquitted two others persons.
Pronouncing the judgment, special Judge A T Wankhede stated that Rajan and two others were acquitted for lack of evidence.
Mohammed Ali Shaikh and Pranay Rane were convicted under sections of murder, attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy and relevant sections of the Arms Act. Umed Shaikh, Adnan Sayyed and Rajan were acquitted.
Rajan, who is lodged in Tihar jail in Delhi, is undergoing a life term for the murder of journalist J Dey in 2011 and will continue to remain in custody.
In 2010, four persons fired at Shakil Ibrahim Modak, the personal assistant of then MLC Bhai Jagtap, and Mohammed Irfan Qureshi due to rivalry. During its probe, the CBI claimed that Call Data Records showed the use of a global SIM card in the conspiracy. It was claimed that one of the accused was in constant touch with Rajan.
Rajan’s lawyer, Tushar Khandare, submitted that there was no evidence linking Rajan to the global SIM card.
Among the witnesses were two persons, including a flower-seller, who were injured in the attack. The court convicted the shooters based on identification by the witnesses besides other evidence against them.
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