Chhota Rajan gets 2-year jail

RAJAN HAS been convicted in three cases so far. He has also been convicted in murder case of senior journalist J. Dey. He was acquitted in a 1999 extortion case.

A special CBI court in Mumbai on Monday sentenced gangster Chhota Rajan and three others to two-year imprisonment in connection with an extortion case. Chhota Rajan has been accused of threatening a builder and trying to extort `26 crore from him.

According to special public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat, the court has also imposed a fine of `5,000 each on all the four convicts. Other convicts are Suresh Shinde, Laxman Nikam and Sumit Mhatre.

Special judge A.T. Wankhede held that the prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that Rajan was the brain behind the 2015 extortion case.

The Central Bureau of Investigation’s case was that the complainant had purchased a land parcel in Pune in 2015 and had agreed to pay a commission of `2 crore to agent Parmanand Thakkar. However, after the deal Thakkar demanded more than `2 crore and after the builder refused to give it, he approached Rajan with details of the land deal. Following this, Rajan sent his men to the builder’s office and demanded `26 crore as extortion. Rajan also threatened him of dire consequences in case his demand of money was not fulfilled.

Even though there have been more than 100 cases registered against Chhota Rajan and his organised crime syndicate in Mumbai, around 70 cases of serious nature have been selected in which Rajan is being prosecuted. All these cases have been transferred to CBI and a special CBI court is conducting trials in these cases.

Rajan has been convicted in around three cases including the one that was decided on Monday. He has also been convicted in the murder case of senior journalist J. Dey. He was acquitted in a 1999 extortion case.