Mumbai, 30 May

A special court in Mumbai on Thursday sentenced gangster Chhota Rajan to life imprisonment in the case of murder of hotelier Jaya Shetty here in 2001.

Special judge for cases under the Maharashtra Control Of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), AM Patil, held Rajan guilty under the Indian Penal Code provisions for murder. Jaya Shetty owned the Golden Crown Hotel at Gamdevi in central Mumbai.

Shetty was shot dead by two alleged members of Rajan's gang on the hotel's first floor on 4 May, 2001. The court's detailed order was not yet available.

Police had registered the murder case based on a complaint filed by the hotel manager. A probe into the case indicated Shetty had received extortion calls from Hemant Pujari, a member of the Chhota Rajan gang, and was killed because of his failure to pay the money.

As there have been a number of cases filed against Rajan for extortion and related offences, charges under the stringent MCOCA were also added against him and other accused in the case of the hotelier's murder.

In previous two separate trials, three other accused in the murder case were convicted, and one was acquitted due to lack of evidence.

Rajan, already serving life imprisonment for the murder of journalist J Dey in 2011, is currently lodged at the Tihar jail in Delhi.