Now Reading: Chhota Rajan, four others acquitted in 2009 murder-bid case
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Chhota Rajan, four others acquitted in 2009 murder-bid case
The Story in Brief
A special CBI court in Mumbai on Friday, 30 October 2026, acquitted gangster Chhota Rajan and four others in a 2009 case related to an attempt on the life of Shiv Sena leader Ajay Bhosale. The attackers opened fire on Bhosale’s Scorpio in Pune on 11 October 2009 during an election campaign. Bhosale escaped unhurt, but his driver was hit by a bullet.
The prosecution argued the attack stemmed from a property dispute between accused Pune builder Surendrakumar Agarwal and his brothers R K Agrawal and V K Agrawal. The case was initially probed by Pune police and transferred to the CBI after Rajan’s deportation from Indonesia in 2015. Rajan, 70, who was granted bail in this case in 2025, remains in Tihar jail serving life for the murder of journalist J Dey. The detailed judgment is awaited.
Indian Opinion Analysis
All three outlets report the same core facts, the acquittal on 30 October 2026, the names of the five accused, the 2009 attack on Ajay Bhosale, and the property-dispute motive, in straight news-agency style. Rediff.com leads with a representational AI-image disclaimer and a key-points summary, while The Times of India adds procedural details: the sections under which the accused were acquitted, the bail status of each, and the prosecution’s ‘organised crime syndicate’ argument. The Indian Express provides the leanest version, omitting the driver’s injury. No outlet challenges the court’s verdict or adds critical commentary. The uniform coverage confirms the acquittal as a straightforward legal conclusion, with no contested framing. Rajan remains in Tihar jail serving life for journalist J Dey’s murder, and the detailed judgment is yet to be released.
Coverage: 3 sources, 3 neutral
Sources (3): rediff.com (neutral report), indianexpress.com (neutral report), timesofindia.indiatimes.com (neutral report)
This brief was synthesised by AI from the 3 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Methodology and corrections.
Update, 31 October 2026: this story now draws on 3 sources.
