J Dey murder case: Prosecution declares MLA witness Sunil Raut hostile

Mumbai: A Shiv Sena MLA, who is a prosecution witness in journalist Jyotirmoy Dey murder case (also known as J Dey murder) of 2011, was declared hostile after he denied receiving a call from one of the accused as contended by the CBI before a special Mumbai court on Monday. “MLA Sunil Raut appeared before the court today (as a prosecution witness). However, he was declared hostile as he did not support the case of the prosecution,” special public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat told PTI. [caption id=“attachment_2883744” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of J Dey. AFP[/caption] Citing the CBI, Gharat said Raut had received and attended a call from an international calling card number on his phone, but in court, he denied taking that call. According to the CBI, the call was made by Paulson Joseph, one of the accused in the case, he said. “This is the same number that gangster Chhota Rajan (the prime accused in the murder case) used to get in touch with journalists after the murder (of Dey),” the special public prosecutor said. However, the exact date and time of the purported call are not known. Raut is a sitting legislator from Vikhroli in Mumbai. Dey, working with an English tabloid in Mumbai, was shot dead in suburban Powai on 11 June, 2011. The court on 31 August last year had framed charges against Rajan. According to a supplementary chargesheet filed by the CBI, Rajan had the veteran crime reporter killed because he was miffed with some articles written by him, and also because a book being written by Dey portrayed him as a “chindi” (petty) criminal. The book, “Chindi — Rags to Riches”, was to be about 20 gangsters who rose from humble origins. Rajan was arrested at Bali airport in Indonesia on 25 October, 2015, and 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 charge sheet was filed against Mumbai-based journalist Jigna Vora for allegedly instigating Rajan against Dey owing to her professional rivalry with the scribe. The 55-year old gangster, once a close aide of fugitive terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, was brought to India to face trial in over 70 cases of killing, extortion and drug smuggling in Delhi and Mumbai. He was recently convicted in a fake passport case by a special court in Delhi.