Mumbai: A special CBI court here on Thursday acquitted gangster Chhota Rajan and three others in a 2009 double murder case.

Special judge A M Patil acquitted them for lack of evidence, holding that the prosecution failed to prove the case beyond "reasonable doubt".

It also could not prove the conspiracy connected to Rajan, the judge added.

The others who were acquitted are Mohmmad Ali Sheikh, Umaid Shaikh and Pranay Rane.

As per the prosecution, in July 2009 Sahid Gulam Hussain, alias Chhote Miya was shot by two men on the footpath in Nagpada area of south Mumbai.

While escaping from the spot, the assailants also shot three others. Chhote Miyan and Sayeed Arshad succumbed to their injuries.

During the investigation, police arrested Rane, who allegedly disclosed the roles of the other accused.

Rajan, however, will not walk out of prison as he is facing trials in several other cases. He has been convicted in the journalist J Dey murder case.

He is lodged in Delhi's Tihar jail since his deportation from Bali in Indonesia in 2015.

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