Chhota Rajan, Four Others Acquitted in 2009 Shiv Sena Leader Attempt-to-Murder Case

A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court has acquitted gangster Chhota Rajan and four others in a 17-year-old attempt-to-murder case involving former Shiv Sena leader Ajay Bhosale, who was targeted in a shooting in Pune during the 2009 Maharashtra Assembly election campaign. The verdict, delivered on October 30, marks a significant development in a case that underwent multiple investigations and judicial scrutiny.

Special Judge Narendranath Pradhan acquitted Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan, businessman Surendra Agarwal, Shakib Aalam Khan, Rajesh Yadav and Vijay Purshottam Salvi. The accused faced charges under IPC Sections 307 and 120-B and Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act. Two other accused remain absconding.

The incident occurred on October 11, 2009, when motorcycle-borne assailants opened fire at Bhosale's vehicle in Pune's Koregaon Park area during an election campaign. While Bhosale escaped unhurt, a bullet struck his driver, Shakeel Sayyed.

According to the prosecution, the attack stemmed from a family property dispute involving businessman Surendra Agarwal and his brothers, R K Agarwal and V K Agarwal. Investigators alleged that Surendra approached Rajan's associate Vijay Tambat to pressure his brothers into transferring his desired share of the property. Rajan allegedly contacted Bhosale, a friend of R K Agarwal, and made more than 50 telephone calls between March and May 2009 seeking his intervention. The prosecution also alleged that Rajan's associates threatened R K Agarwal at Pune's Residency Club in May 2009.

Initially investigated by Pune's Bund Garden police, the case attracted Bombay High Court intervention in July 2012, when the court questioned the CID's failure to examine allegations against Rajan and the businessman. The CID subsequently named additional accused in 2013.

Following Rajan's deportation from Indonesia in 2015, Maharashtra transferred 71 cases involving him to the CBI. The agency registered the case in May 2017 and continued the investigation.

In May 2025, a special CBI court granted Rajan bail, observing that his custody was unnecessary for further trial and his release would not obstruct prosecution. However, he remained imprisoned due to his life sentence in journalist J Dey's 2011 murder case, in which he was convicted in 2018.

The latest court directed that seized properties be preserved and a supplementary chargesheet filed against the two absconding accused. The detailed acquittal judgment was not immediately available, leaving the specific reasons behind the court's decision to be established from its written order. Rajan's other convictions remain unaffected.