Indian gangster Chhota Rajan jailed for life for ordering journalist’s murder in 2011
Rajan, whose real name is Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje, was once one of India’s most wanted men and is accused of dozens of gruesome crimes
An Indian court on Wednesday sentenced notorious gangster Chhota Rajan and eight others to life in prison for murdering a journalist in a drive-by shooting in Mumbai seven years ago.
Jyotirmoy Dey, a crime reporter who specialised on gangland activities for the Mid-day tabloid, was shot dead in broad daylight on June 11, 2011.
Prosecutors said Rajan had ordered the hit because he was unhappy about negative articles that Dey had written about him.
A special court in India’s financial capital Mumbai found Rajan guilty of ordering the contract killing of the 56-year-old.
The underworld don, who was appearing by video link from a New Delhi jail where he is being held, simply said “theek hai” (“OK”) after Judge Sameer Adkar read out his verdict.
The court also convicted eight henchmen, including four shooters. They and Rajan, who is in his late 50s, were later sentenced to life imprisonment.