Journalist Jigna Vora gets bail in J Dey murder case

Journalist Jigna Vora, who is accused by the police of orchestrating the murder of Mid-Day journalist J Dey in 2011, was granted bail by a special MCOCA court in Mumbai today. Vora, arrested in November 2011, had filed a bail application before the special MCOCA court that is hearing the case, in April. Currently lodged in the Byculla jail she is likely to be released soon. [caption id=“attachment_393964” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Vora was arrested after other members of the Chhota Rajan gang were arrested. PTI[/caption] Vora was arrested on 25 November 2011 and charged under sections of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) for providing key information, like supplying address and license plate number of the slain journalist to gangster Chhota Rajan. In the application, Vora has claimed that there was not a single outgoing call made by her to the gangster and it would therefore be wrong to state that she had instigated Rajan against Dey by speaking ill about him. Though some journalists had claimed that Rajan had informed them that Vora had instigated him against Dey, none of the journalists have produced any record of the calls made to them by Rajan, she said. On 3 December, 2011, police had filed a charge sheet against the arrested accused — Rohee Thangappan Joseph alias Satish Kalya, Abhijeet Shinde, Arun Dake, Sachin Gaikwad, Anil Waghmode, Nilesh Shendge, Mangesh Agawane, Vinod Asrani, Paulson Joseph and Deepak Sisodia. Police have alleged Rajan was upset with two articles written by Dey, which portrayed him in a bad light. So he murdered Dey because he wanted to send a message to the media that those who write against him would be targeted. According to the the 3,055-page charge sheet, Vora, who was the Deputy Chief of Bureau of Asian Age, had instigated the overseas-based underworld to kill Dey due to professional rivalry. A supplementary charge sheet was filed at a later date against Vora, the eleventh arrested accused in the case. J Dey, working with city-based tabloid Mid Day, was shot dead in suburban Powai on 11 June last year. with inputs from PTI