Video Editor: Vishal Kumar
Seven years after veteran crime journalist Jyotirmoy Dey, better known as J Dey, was gunned down by a gang of seven in broad daylight, a special MCOCA court in Mumbai has sentenced the hit job mastermind and underworld don Chhota Rajan and eight others to life imprisonment.
Apart from Chhota Rajan, Satish Kaliya, Anil Waghmode, Abhijit Shinde, Nilesh Shendge, Arun Dake, Mangesh Agawane, Sachin Gaikwad and Deepak Sisodia have been awarded life imprisonment. One of the accused, Vinod Asrani, had died after prolonged illness in 2015.
The court has acquitted journalist Jigna Vora who was charged with instigating Rajan to execute the murder and Rajan’s aide Paulson Joseph, who was accused of handling the financial operations in the murder case, for lack of enough evidence against them.
J Dey was shot dead by seven members of Rajan’s gang who followed Dey on his way back home in Powai, Mumbai. According to the prosecution, Rajan’s aide Satish Kalia had shot him with a .32 bore pistol near Hiranandani Gardens in Powai before fleeing with the rest of the gang. Dey was rushed to the Hiranandani hospital which had declared him brought dead.
Dey had filed several reports and written many articles on Rajan and even called him ‘Chindi’(meaning cheap) in one of the articles. His disputes with Rajan led to his tragic end. Rajan had reportedly masterminded Dey’s murder till the end. He had contacted Kalia and given him details of Dey’s Parel Office, Powai residence and the number plate of his motorcycle.
Rajan is said to have believed that Dey was involved with gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his gang, from whom he has infamously estranged, and feared that Dey would divulge his details to Dawood.
Chhota Rajan had also reportedly told TV channels that he was instigated by Jigna Vora, Dey’s professional rival to plot the murder of Dey.
This is the second conviction for Rajan since he was deported to India following his arrest at Bali airport in 2015. Earlier last year, Rajan was convicted by a court in Delhi and sentenced to seven years imprisonment in a case of fake passport.
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