Mumbai court reserves verdict in J Dey murder case till May 2

A special MCOCA court here today reserved till May 2 its judgement in the journalist J Dey murder case in which gangster Chhota Rajan is one of the accused.

"The court is likely to pronounce the verdict on May 2," Special Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat said.

The veteran crime journalist was shot dead in suburban Powai on June 11, 2011 while he was on his way home.

During the trial, the prosecution examined 155 witnesses while eight of them turned hostile.

The CBI court framed charges against Chhota Rajan in the case in 2016.

According to a supplementary charge sheet by the CBI, Rajan had Dey killed because he was miffed with some articles written by him, and also because a planned book of his portrayed Rajan as a 'chindi' (petty) criminal.

Rajan was arrested at Bali airport in Indonesia on October 25, 2015, and was deported to India.

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.

A separate charge sheet was filed against journalist Jigna Vora for allegedly instigating Rajan against Dey owing to her own professional rivalry.