CBI court acquits Chhota Rajan in 2004 attempt to murder case | Mumbai news

MUMBAI: A special court designated under the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday acquitted underworld gangster Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje, known as Chhota Rajan in a 2004 attempted murder case involving an associate of a city builder, citing lack of evidence.

Special judge A M Patil, while delivering the verdict, noted that the prosecution had failed to establish Rajan’s role in the conspiracy or his connection with the co-accused. “In sum and substance, it can be said that the prosecution has failed to prove the guilt of the accused,” the court observed. Rajan is currently lodged in Tihar Jail, serving a life sentence in the 2011 murder of journalist J Dey.

The case pertains to a September 2004 incident where six to seven men allegedly stormed the office of builder Nandkumar Harchandani and attempted to kill his accountant, Prakash More, reportedly over a financial dispute. More, who escaped gunfire but was assaulted, worked for Harchandani, who was overseeing a slum rehabilitation project in Andheri under Shelter Maker India Pvt Ltd.

According to the prosecution, Harchandani had failed to fully compensate the original plot occupants, prompting threats purportedly issued in Rajan’s name. The CBI claimed that Rajan had directed his associate, Balu Dokre, to halt the project. On September 16, 2004, the armed assailants allegedly entered the builder’s office and fired at More, missing him, but beat him up before fleeing. An FIR was subsequently filed at the Andheri police station.

However, the court found no conclusive evidence tying Rajan to the attack. It ruled that the prosecution was unable to prove that Rajan conspired to carry out the assault or that it was the work of an organised crime syndicate intended for monetary gain.

Key prosecution witness Irshad Shaikh, a security guard who claimed to have received a threatening call from Rajan, later admitted during cross-examination that he couldn’t confirm if the caller was indeed the gangster. The court termed this a “crucial admission” that undermined the entire case.

The case was transferred to the CBI in November 2015 after Rajan’s arrest in Bali, Indonesia the previous month. Two other cases involving the gangster are nearing completion in the sessions court.