CBI files closure report in 46 of 71 cases against Rajan

Prosecutor cites lack of evidence; 5 years after extradition, gangster convicted only in 4 cases

MUMBAI: Five-and-half years after his deportation to India, a special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court on April 22 acquitted underworld don Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan in the two-decade-old Hanif Kadawala murder case.

Kadawala, an accused in the March 1993 Mumbai bombings case, was shot dead on February 7, 2001, in his office.

The special court acquitted the gangster after the investigating officer of the case revealed that one of the accused in the case, Yusuf Bachkana, who acquitted in 2004, had claimed that Kadawala was killed at his brother Farooq’s behest.

The Kadawala murder case was Rajan’s sixth trial concluded so far after his extradition.

Rajan has so far been convicted in four cases, including the murder of journalist J Dey and cases of firing at builders BR Shetty and Ajay Gosalia.

In Dey’s murder case, Rajan has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

On March 16, a special MCOCA court had sentenced Rajan and six members of his gang to 10 years of imprisonment and imposed ₹5 lakh on each of them for firing at builder Ajay Gosalia in 2013. of them.

After Rajan was deported from Bali in November 2015, the Centre issued a notification on November 21, 2015, transferring all cases against him to CBI. Of the 71 cases against him, CBI has filed closure report in 46 before the special MCOCA and magistrate courts set up to try the gangster. The cases which are closed are mostly old cases of gang rivalry and murders of businessmen who refused to give in to Rajan’s demands.

“We have closed several old cases where it was not possible to trace witnesses. It was not possible to obtain primary evidence like the call data records of the accused involved in the crime and others connected in such old cases. In most of these cases, complainants have either died or are not traceable,” said special public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat.

Rajan’s lawyer Tushar Khandare, however said, “Rajan was never involved in the cases in which the agency has filed closure report. In many of these cases, his name was misused, and the crimes were committed without his knowledge. As he was not in India, the agencies could never verify his role. It was only after extradition, facts became evident, and it was found that he was not involved.”

Among the pending cases, Rajan is facing trial in the murder cases of hotelier Jaya Shetty, union leader Datta Samant and builder Majid Khan.