Last year, Rajan had been sentenced to life in prison for orchestrating the murder of journalist J-Dey.
A special Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) court on Tuesday sentenced Chhota Rajan and five others to eight years jail and imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh each in a 2012 case of a shootout on businessman BR Shetty.
This is the second case in which the underworld don has been sentenced by an MCOCA court. Last year, Rajan had been sentenced to life in prison for orchestrating the murder of journalist J-Dey.
Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan was produced in court through the video-conferencing facility from Tihar jail in Delhi. When informed by judge AT Wankhede that he had been found guilty and asked what he had to say about his sentence, Rajan (62) replied in Marathi that it is up to the judge and maintained that he was not involved in the crime.
Judge Wankhede found the men guilty of sections under the MCOCA, Arms Act, Section 307 (attempt to murder) and 120-B (punishment for criminal conspiracy) of the IPC. Court also directed that of the total fine collected, Rs. 5 lakh be paid to Shetty as compensation for the injuries he had suffered. If they do not pay the fine amount, they would have to spend an additional one year in jail.
Others sentenced in the crime are Nityanand Nayak (44), Selvin Daniel (50), Sathish Kalya (43), Dilip Upadhyay (34) and Talvinder Singh Bakshi (44). One accused in the case Gurudeep Singh Raina alias Bobby is still wanted. While earlier Chhota Rajan was also a wanted accused in this case, along with in several others, he was brought under trial after being captured from Bali, Indonesia in 2015 and deported.
Special Public Prosecutor Pradip Gharat said that on October 3, 2012, around 9.30 PM Dilip Upadhyay fired four rounds at BR Shetty while riding pillion with Talvinder Singh who was riding the bike. At the time Shetty was driving his car near New Link Road in Andheri and was on his way to a friends' place for dinner. Shetty sustained an injury to his shoulder in the attack. When he deposed in court, the bullet was still inside his body. The attack was committed at the instance of Rajan.
Four of the five arrested accused - Nayak, Daniel, Upadhyay and Bakshi had given confessional statements, of which some had later retracted their statements. The court found that the statements had been voluntary and the crime was committed for pecuniary gain.
Shetty had stated in his statement to the police that he had been receiving threat calls from Chhota Rajan from the past three to four years, which had stopped after he had made a complaint with the Bangalore police.
Deposing before the court, Shetty had identified the pillion rider Upadhyay who had shot at him and Bakshi, who was riding the bike.
Advocate Santhosh Deshpande appearing for Sathish Kalya said he will be challenging the order in the High Court on aspects such as the inconsistencies in statements of different witnesses on the exact location of the incident. Kalya is said to have been part of the conspiracy from behind bars. HE was sentenced to life imprisonment in J-Dey murder case
Most of the accused have spent almost seven years in jail since 2012 after their arrest. The court has given them a set off for the period they have already spent behind bars, which means they should be free in another year.
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