Senior advocate Pradeep Gharat has been appointed special public prosecutor in all the 70 cases in which deported gangster Chhota Rajan is an accused, including the murder of journalist J Dey.
"I have been informed by the CBI that the notification is issued in my name and today I appeared in the Dey case," Gharat told PTI.
Earlier he had appeared as special prosecutor in stamp paper scam involving Abdul Karim Telgi and actor Salman Khan hit-and-run case.
The special court had on August 31 framed charges against Rajan in that case.
The agency had filed a supplementary charge sheet against Rajan, on August 5, claiming that he had the journalist murdered because Dey's articles and a planned book portrayed Rajan as 'chindi' (a small fry).
Dey, a veteran crime reporter, had planned the book, titled "Chindi -- Rags to Riches", wherein he was going to write the stories of 20 gangsters with humble origins.
"Dey was going to expose the fake patriotic mask used by him (Rajan) to secure himself and to accumulate wealth for his family. The book was to have that Rajan had no concern for those who made him big," the charge sheet had said.
The book was also to portray Rajan's friend-turned-foe Dawood Ibrahim as being superior to him.
According to the charge sheet, Rajan, who was reportedly hiding in Malaysia, had called Dey for a meeting but the journalist refused.
Journalist Jigna Vora, an accused in the case and now on bail, is the one who instigated the murder, CBI said.
Rajan was arrested at Bali airport in Indonesia on October 25 last year and deported to India.
He is facing around 70 cases in Maharashtra, all now handed over to CBI.
Dey was shot dead in suburban Powai on June 11, 2011. The first charge sheet filed in 2011 names Satish Kaliya, Abhijeet Shinde, Arun Dake, Sachin Gaikwad, Anil Waghmode, Nilesh Shendge, Mangesh Agawane, Vinod Asrani, Paulson Joseph and Deepak Sisodia (all arrested).
Another charge sheet was filed against Vora the next year. She is accused of instigating Rajan against Dey owing to her own professional rivalry.
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