The Bombay High Court has designated a special court for trying the cases against deported underworld gangster Chhota Rajan, following a request made by the Maharashtra Government. Informed official sources said that the State Government would issue a notification in this regard, in the next few days.
Rajan, who was arrested in Bali on his arrival from Australia on October 25 and flown to Delhi in the early hours of November 6 last year, faces at least 70 cases of crimes ranging from murder, attempts to murder, extortion, smuggling and drug trafficking. The murder of senior journalist J Dey is one of the crimes that he will be tried in Maharashtra.
On the very day of his arrival in New Delhi, the Maharashtra Government announced its decision to hand over all the cases against Chhota Rajan to the CBI. The move to set up a designated special court to try all cases against Rajan comes in the run up the CBI complying with the order passed by a special MCOCA court’s order on December 27, 2015, directing the CBI to produce Rajan before it on January 7.
At the December 27 hearing, the MCOCA court had slammed the CBI for lack of progress in the investigations into J Dey murder case.