Mumbai: Chhota Rajan discharged in 1999 murder case of hotelier

Mumbai: Chhota Rajan discharged in 1999 murder case of hotelier

This is the third case in which Rajan has been discharged - the previous two being the killing of five persons in Bandra by firing, among whom was builder Majid Khan and another, of extortion of Santacruz businessman Virendra Jain.

Bhavna UchilUpdated: Friday, February 11, 2022, 10:49 PM IST
article-image
Mumbai: Chhota Rajan discharged in 1999 murder case of hotelier | ANI

A special court on Friday gave a clean chit to former underworld don Chhota Rajan in an over 22-year-old case in which after an extortion attempt, four men of the gangster had allegedly fired on hotelier Narayan Pujari in Dahisar in October 1999, leading to his death.

This is the third case in which Rajan has been discharged - the previous two being the killing of five persons in Bandra by firing, among whom was builder Majid Khan and another, of extortion of Santacruz businessman Virendra Jain.

In the present over the two-decade-old case, the FIR was lodged on Oct 30, 1999, by an assistant police inspector at the Dahisar police station. He had received information by a phone call that four unknown men had fired on a person opposite Side Walk hotel, Rwala Pada junction in Dahisar East. The police had gone to the spot and then taken the victim to Bhagwati hospital, where he was declared dead. An FIR was lodged against unknown persons then. Pujari had allegedly received extortion calls before the incident.

When the charge sheet was filed in the case, Rajan was shown as an absconding accused along with some others, who too were absconding. One Ramakant Pandey was arrested that year and was convicted by a special court in 2001 for offences of criminal conspiracy and murder under the IPC as well as for offences under the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) and under the Arms Act.

Rajan was deported from Indonesia in 2015 and all cases against him, over 70, were taken over by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). In the discharge application filed in this case through his advocate Tushar Khandare, Rajan had contended that in the charge sheet filed against him by the agency, no specific role was assigned to him. Advocate Avinash Rasal had appeared for Rajan and argued that he had been roped into the simply because Pandey was a co-accused with him in some cases. Rajan had even denied his identity as being known as Chhota Rajan as the police had claimed that from Pandey, they had seized a diary in which they found Chhota Rajan’s contact number. In the discharge plea, Rajan had disputed that the number belonged to him and contended that there were no call recordings produced to show his involvement.

RECENT STORIES

Mumbai: POCSO Court Sentences 2 Men To 10 Years In Prison For Eve-Teasing & Sexual Harassment Of...

Mumbai: POCSO Court Sentences 2 Men To 10 Years In Prison For Eve-Teasing & Sexual Harassment Of...

Bombay High Court Upholds ₹3 Crore Compensation & Monthly Maintenance Under Domestic Violence Act

Bombay High Court Upholds ₹3 Crore Compensation & Monthly Maintenance Under Domestic Violence Act

Bombay High Court Questions Panvel Municipal Corporation's Retroactive Property Tax Demand

Bombay High Court Questions Panvel Municipal Corporation's Retroactive Property Tax Demand

Residents Cannot Be Penalised For Authorities' Delay In Executing Public Amenities Works: Bombay...

Residents Cannot Be Penalised For Authorities' Delay In Executing Public Amenities Works: Bombay...

Bombay HC Asks Govt To Make State Mental Health Authority Fully Functional, Set Up 6 More Halfway...

Bombay HC Asks Govt To Make State Mental Health Authority Fully Functional, Set Up 6 More Halfway...