Four years after senior crime journalist J Dey was gunned down by a group of motorbike-riding hirelings of the Chhota Rajan gang at Powai in north-east Mumbai, a special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court here on Monday framed charges against the 10 accused, including an arrested fellow reporter Jigna Vora, in the case.
Additional Sessions Judge Al Pansare, who presides over the special MCOCA court here, read out the charges against the ten accused, including Jigna, after they pleaded not guilty.
The court has charged the ten accused with having not only been a part of the underworld gang run by Chhota Rajan, but 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. The court posted the next hearing of the trial for June 18.
Fifty-six-year-old Dey, who was an Editor with “Mid-Day”, was gunned down by a group of motorbike-riding gangsters at Powai in Mumbai on June 11, 2011. Investigations have revealed that Dey was bumped off at the behest of Rajan.
Initially, 10 persons were arrested in connection with the case and charge-sheeted. Jigna was arrested on November 25, 2011. Jigna was chargesheeted 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 chargesheet 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 which is admissible as evidence in the court.
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 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 is holed up somewhere in south-east Asia.