Around seven years after journalist and writer J Dey was gunned down in Mumbai, underworld don Rajendra Nikhalje alias Chhota Rajan and eight others were convicted by a Mumbai court on Wednesday.
However, journalist Jigna Vora, the then Deputy Bureau Chief of the Mumbai edition of ‘The Asian Age’, was acquitted by the court. Dey, 56, the Editor-Investigations of ‘Mid-Day’ was shot dead on June 11, 2011, at Powai suburbs in Mumbai.
Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Adkar, who pronounced the conviction and acquittal, would hear later in the day arguments on quantum of sentence.
Besides Rajan, who is currently lodged in the Tihar Jail in Delhi, others who were convicted were: Satish Kalia, Anil Waghmode, Abhijit Shinde, Nilesh Shedge, Arun Dhake , Mangesh Agawane, Sachin Gaikwad, Deepak Sisodia.
One of the accused, Vinod Asrani alias Vinod Chembur, a bookie and builder who financed the murder, had died during the course of the trial.
The investigations were initially conducted by the Powai police station and then transferred to the Crime Branch CID. However, when Rajan was deported from Indonesia, the Maharashtra government had handed over all cases related to him to the CBI.
“I feel relieved. This is the first time that an underworld don has been convicted in a regular (murder) case,” the then Mumbai Police commissioner Arup Patnaik said. “I am sure the CBI will appeal against it in the higher court,” he said on the acquittals.
On the issue of acquittal of Jigna Vora, Special Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat said: “Once we get the copy of the order, we would be able to comment on it….as far as the investigations were concerned, it showed that she was in touch with Chhota Rajan, she was in touch with messages with his associates…also, she had not been able to explain the sudden leave that she took after the incident.”
Dey had authored two books – ‘Khallas: An A to Z Guide to the Underworld’ and ‘Zero Dial: The Dangerous World of Informers’ – and was in the process of writing the third book – ‘Chindi: Rags to Riches’. In the third book that Dey was writing, he had portrayed Rajan as ” chindi ” (inconsequential or petty) and not as “don” and this has apparently angered Rajan and he ordered the hit.
Deccan Herald
