Agencies
NEW DELHI: A special court today found gangster Chhota Rajan guilty, but scribe Jigna Vora not guilty of the murder of journalist J Dey, who was gunned down in Mumbai in 2011.
The veteran crime journalist, 56 at the time, was shot dead in suburban Powai on June 11, 2011 while he was on his way home.
Another accused, Paulsen Joseph was also acquitted. Those convicted include shooters Satish Kaliya, Anil Waghmode, Arun Fake and Mangesh Agavane.
Journalist Vora, who is suspected of having passed on Dey's information to the gangster. A separate charge sheet was filed against Vora for allegedly instigating Rajan against Dey owing to her own professional rivalry. Rajan was extradited to India in December 2015. He is currently lodged in the Tihar Central Jail, New Delhi.
The trial restarted after Rajan's extradition. The CBI took over the case and a supplementary chargesheet was filed in 2016. The CBI said Dey was writing two books that not only showed Rajan in poor light, but also put arch rival Dawood Ibrahim on a higher pedestal. About 155 witnesses deposed, of which seven were declared hostile. Key witnesses were journalists to whom Rajan spoke after the murder.
The first charge sheet filed in the case in 2011 named Satish Kaliya, Abhijeet Shinde, Arun Dake, Sachin Gaikwad, Anil Waghmode, Nilesh Shendge, Mangesh Agawane, Vinod Asrani, Paulson Joseph and Deepak Sisodia (all arrested) as accused.
Dey's sister Lina hopes that the guilty are sentenced to death.
"I want...all the accused who aided and abetted in killing my brother get maximum punishment of death and nothing less than that. Only then will I find peace," Lina told TOI yesterday.
Describing the lasting impact of Dey's untimely death, Lina said, "After my brother's murder, my family has been ruined. Last year, my mother passed away as there was no one at home to rush her to hospital." Lina said that even five years later, she has still not come to the terms with the reason behind the murder.
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