The Bombay High Court granted bail to gangster Chhota Rajan in connection with the murder of Jaya Shetty. The court suspended Rajan's life sentence and allowed him to be released on bail. A bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan ordered Rajan to pay a bond of₹1,00,000 (around $1,189) for his bail.

Chhota Rajan, whose real name is Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje, was convicted earlier this year for ordering the murder of Jaya Shetty. Two alleged members of Rajan's gang carried out the murder after Shetty reportedly received extortion calls from another gang member, Hemant Pujari. Shetty was killed for not paying the extortion money.

Even though the court granted bail and suspended his life sentence, Rajan will remain in jail due to other criminal cases against him. He is already serving a life sentence for the murder of crime reporter J Dey and is currently held at Tihar Jail in Delhi.

Who was Jaya Shetty, and what was the case all about?

Jaya Shetty was a businessman who owned the Golden Crown hotel in Gamdevi, central Mumbai. He also owned four restaurants in the city, including one on Grant Road. 

On May 4, 2001, Jaya Shetty was shot and killed by two men from Chhota Rajan's gang in his hotel. The shooting took place on the first floor. When the police looked into the case, they found out that Jaya Shetty had been getting threatening phone calls for money from Hemant Pujari, who was part of Rajan's gang. Shetty was killed because he didn’t pay the money they demanded. Two months before he was killed, Jaya Shetty had asked to have his security removed, which made him an easy target for the attackers.

 

Who is Chhota Rajan?

 

Chhota Rajan; his real name is Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje, a well-known gangster from Mumbai. He grew up in Tilak Nagar, a large area for low-income families near Chembur. Rajan started his criminal career by selling cinema tickets on the black market at Sahakar Cinema in Tilak Nagar.

 

Early criminal activities of Chhota Rajan

 

In 1979, he was arrested along with his gang for attacking police officers. After serving time in jail, he joined another gang led by Bada Rajan in 1980. When Bada Rajan was killed, Chhota Rajan sought protection from the famous gangster Dawood Ibrahim and began to control gang activities in the Tilak Nagar, Ghatkopar, and Chembur areas of east Mumbai.

During the 1980s, especially after Dawood Ibrahim moved to Dubai, Rajan became his right-hand man in Mumbai. In 1988, during a gang war between Dawood and another gangster named Arun Gawli, Rajan and his gang killed Ashok Joshi, a gang leader who mentored Gawli. Fearing revenge from Gawli, Rajan fled to Dubai that same year and did not return.

In 1993, Chhota Rajan and his close associates broke away from Dawood Ibrahim. He escaped from Dubai and formed his own gang, which often clashed with Dawood's D-Company. Rajan is wanted for many serious crimes, including extortion, murder, smuggling, and drug trafficking. He is specifically wanted in 70 murder cases and many more attempted murders.