Anil Sharma murder case: Chhota Rajan discharged by special court

This is the fourth case registered against Rajan in Mumbai in which the gangster has been discharged by the court for want of evidence. Rajan had 71 cases registered against him in Mumbai. The CBI, which is prosecuting him in all these cases, has dropped 46 old cases for want of evidence

Mumbai The special CBI court has discharged gangster Chhota Rajan for the murder of Anilkumar Sharma that took place in 1999 for want of cogent evidence. There was no one to identify the extradited gangster as the person who had ordered the killing.

Police escort Indian gangster Rajendra Nikalje, widely known as Chhota Rajan, at police headquarters in Denpasar, Bali November 2, 2015 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Indonesia will deport one of India's most wanted men on Tuesday to face charges in more than two dozen murder cases at home. Rajendra Nikalje was arrested by police on Indonesia's resort island of Bali last week, ending a two-decade-long international manhunt. Rajan has been on Interpol's wanted list since 1995 suspected of running a crime syndicate that engaged in extortion, arms struggling and contract killing. Picture taken November 2, 2015. REUTERS/Nyoman Budhiana/Antara Foto ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. MANDATORY CREDIT. INDONESIA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN INDONESIA. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY (REUTERS)

This is the fourth case registered against Rajan in Mumbai in which the gangster has been discharged by the court for want of evidence. Rajan had 71 cases registered against him in Mumbai. The CBI, which is prosecuting him in all these cases, has dropped 46 old cases for want of evidence and the courts had earlier discharged him in three other cases. The gangster is so far convicted in four cases, including that of journalist J Dey murder case, and acquitted him in five other cases.

Sharma, an alleged member of the Dawood Ibrahim gang, was one of the members of the group that was involved in shootout at JJ Hospital in 1991 to avenge the murder of Dawood’s brother- in- law.

“It is seen that the prosecution did not bring or collect any incriminating evidence against this applicant except the words allegedly uttered by the informant – Nana se Dushmani lene ka natija dekh (sic). Now, so as to connect the present applicant with the alleged words i.e. Nana, there is nothing to show that this applicant i.e. Chhota Rajan was referred as Nana,” said the court while discharging Rajan from the case.

As per the prosecution, on September 9, 1999, Anilkumar Sharma, who was one of the accused in the infamous JJ Hospital shoot-out on September 12, 1990, allegedly carried out by the Dawood Ibrahim gang, was driving his Mahindra Jeep. When he reached Teli Galli Cross Lane at about 10.15am, suddenly, the accused overtook the jeep in their Maruti car and stopped it. The accused got down and fired at Sharma.

According to the prosecution, Sharma’s murder was an outcome of the gang war. It was alleged that a squad of 24 sharpshooters from the Dawood Ibrahim gang, led by Subhashsingh Thakur, had ambushed ward no. 18 of JJ Hospital on September 22, 1992, to avenge the death of Dawood’s brother-in-law Ibrahim Parkar by rival Arun Gawli gang.

The squad ended up killing Gawli’s shooter Sailesh Haldankar and two police constables, who exchanged fire with the assailants. Sharma was alleged to be part of the squad formed to kill Haldankar.

To avenge Haldankar’s murder, Rajan had allegedly instructed Ravi Pujari to eliminate members of the squad. Sharma was thus killed in the shoot-out as part of the gang war.

Rajan’s lawyer Avinash Rasal, however, pointed out that the investigating officer of the case had failed to establish Rajan’s identity as regards to the offence in question. He contended that there was not a single instance to show that Rajan had any talk with the deceased at any point of time or he had any grudge against Sharma.