A Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court here on Wednesday framed charges against extradited underworld gangster Rajendra Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan in the J Dey murder case, thus setting the stage for start of a trial of all the 12 accused in the much-discussed case.
Nearly four weeks after it filed a chargesheet against Rajan and his accomplice Ravi Ram Rattesar in the J Dey murder case, the CBI produced the accused gangster before the MCOCA court through video-conferencing from Delhi’sTihar Central prison where he is lodged. While framing the charges against Rajan, the judges read out charges the accused gangster and explained their import. The latter asked Rajan if pleaded guilty of the charges framed against him. Rajan replied in the negative.
After the charges were framed against Rajan, the judge said that he would begin the trial into the case and asked the Prosecution to submit a so submit a schedule for the trial at the next hearing.
At previous hearing held on August 5, the CBI had filed a chargesheet against Rajan, claiming among other things that that he was main conspirator who ordered the killing of the senior investigative journalist Dey.
According to the charge-sheet, Rajan had not taken kindly to articles written by Dey against him, the book Chindi-Rags to riches” planned by him, in which the latter was to portray the gangster as “chindi” (small fry). The book Rajan planned to write wasto contained stories of 20 gangsters with humble origins. Rajan had disapproved ofDey’s alleged proximity to Karachi-based don and his arch rival Dawood Ibrahim.
Rajan had not only warned Dey against filing negative stories or writing a book against him, but had also invited the senior journalist to Malaysia for a meeting with him .Dey however, refused to meet Rajan.
The chargesheet among other things quoted Rajan as having told one Manoj that Jigna Vora, a former journalist and co-accused in the case, that Dey was a “traitor”, was writing “wrong things’” and was in touch with a rival gang headed by Dawood or ISI. The transcripts of the taped conversations between Dawood, Manoj and other are part of a chargesheet filed against Rajan.
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, was booked by the CBI in the J Dey murder within days after registered a case on January 5, 2016.
Fifty-six-year-old Dey, who was an Editor (Special Investigations) with “Mid-Day”, was gunned down by a group of motorbike-riding gangsters at Powai in north-east Mumbai on June 11, 2011. Investigations have revealed that Dey was bumped off at the behest of Rajan.
On June 8 last year, the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court here on Monday had framed charges against the 10 accused, including an arrested fellow reporter Jigna Vora, in the case.
The court had charged the ten accused with having not only been a part of the underworld gang run by ChhotaRajan, but also having executed the conspiracy hatched by the fugitive gangster to eliminate Dey.
The charges were framed against the ten accused under 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 201 (causing disappearing of evidence), 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code, sections 325 and 327 of Arms Act and 3(1)(i), 3 (2) and 3 (4) of the MCOCA.
Initially, 10 persons were arrested by the Mumbai police in connection with the case and charge-sheeted. Jigna was arrested on November 25, 2011. Jigna was charge-sheeted was subsequently. Of the total 11 accused, one accused Vinod Chembur alias Vinod Asrani, a real estate dealer and a bookie from Chembur, who was the main financer and co-conspirator, passed away on April 11 this year following multiple ailments.
On December 3, 2011, the police had filed a 3,055 page charge-sheet against 12 accused in the case, including Rajan and another absconding accused Nayansingh Pratapsingh Bisht who, along with another accused, had made available 0.32 bore US-made US revolver used in the crime.
The other accused, against whom charge sheet had been filed on December 3 2011, were: Rohee Thangappan Joseph alias Satish Kalya, Abhijeet Shinde, Arun Dake, Sachin Gaikwad, Anil Waghmode, Nilesh Shendge, Mangesh Agawane, Vinod Asrani, Paulson Joseph and Deepak Sisodia. All of them are in custody under MCOCA charges.
Vora’s name did not figure in the first charge-sheet. On February 21, 2012, the crime branch police filed a supplementary charge-sheet in the court, including Vora’s name in the list of accused in the case and specifying her role in the crime.
The supplementary charge-sheet ran into 1,471 pages, split into three volumes. There are 27 witnesses. Three of the witnesses have given their statement under oath (CrPC 164) which is admissible as evidence in the court.
Three arrested accused--Paulson Joseph, Deepak Sisodia and Arun Dake—have made their confessions, in keeping with the provisions of MCOCA.
The Prosecution’s case has been that Vora, who is the deputy bureau chief of the Mumbai edition of "Asian Age", had allegedly instigated Chhota Rajan, into ordering the killing of senior crime journalist Dey, following some professional rivalry between two media persons.
The investigations have so far revealed that it was incarcerated co-accused Paulson Joseph, who had provided international SIM cards to Vora to make calls to Rajan, who was then holed up somewhere in south-east Asia.