J Dey murder case: What happened over 7 years
A chronology of events since the senior journalist’s murder in June 2011 in suburban Mumbai
A Mumbai court on Wednesday convicted gangster Chhota Rajan and his henchmen in the 2011 murder of senior journalist J Dey. It also acquitted former journalist Jigna Vora and another accused. A timeline of events following the murder:
June 11, 2011: Journalist Jyotirmoy Dey, 56, shot dead near Hiranandani Gardens in suburban Powai. A case of murder filed at the Powai police station and the probe transferred to the crime branch.
June 27, 2011: Mumbai crime branch arrests seven people, including the shooter, Satish Kaliya, and others Abhijit Shinde, Arun Dake, Sachin Gaikwad, Anil Waghmode, Nilesh Shendge and Mangesh Agawane. Based on their questioning, the police arrests three more accused — Vinod Asrani, Deepak Sisodia and Paulson Joseph.
July 7, 2011: Provisions of the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) invoked against the accused.
November 25, 2011: Journalist Jigna Vora arrested on charges of instigating gangster Chhota Rajan to plan the killing.
December 3, 2011: Crime branch files charge-sheet in the case. Two persons — Chhota Rajan and Nayansingh Bisht — shown as wanted accused.
February 21, 2012: A supplementary charge-sheet filed against Vora.
July 27, 2012: Vora gets bail.
April 10, 2015: Asrani dies in jail after prolonged illness.
June 8, 2015: The court frames charges against 11 accused under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections of 120(b) (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention), along with relevant provisions of the MCOCA and the Arms Act.
October 25, 2015: Rajan arrested at Bali, Indonesia, and deported to India. Later, lodged at Tihar Jail in Delhi.
January 5, 2016: The case is transferred to the CBI.
November 7, 2016: Dey’s wife Shubha Sharma deposes before court, says he was tense a week before the killing.
August 31, 2017: The special MCOCA court frames charges against Rajan.
February 22, 2018: Prosecution completes its final arguments.
April 2, 2018: The court records Rajan’s final statement under section 313 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). Rajan produced before court from Tihar jail via video conference link.
April 3, 2018: Defence completes its arguments. The special MCOCA court reserves its judgement in case till May 2.
May 2, 2018: A special CBI court convicts underworld don Chhota Rajan and seven others, sentences them to life imprisonment for Dey’s murder. Vora and Paulson Joseph, a member of Rajan’s gang, acquitted.