In journalist Jyotirmoy Dey’s murder case, witnesses who had received a call from Chhota Rajan after J Dey’s death identified the gangster’s voice recorded in an interrupted conversation. The observer, an acquaintance of accused, Vinod Asrani (deceased), told the court that he had received a call from Rajan on August 4, 2011, when the gangster discussed the murder of veteran journalist. The witness, however, said that he was not sure of the contents of the statement supposedly given by him to the Mumbai Police in 2011 as well as a statement recorded before the magistrate under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code(CrPC).
During his cross-examination by advocates, the witness said that since he could not speak, write or understand Marathi, he did not know the contents of his statement. As per the Mumbai police statement recorded in 2011, Rajan had, in the phone call, told the witness that journalist Jigna Vora, named as one of the accused in the case, had given him details about Dey, including his residential address, office address, motorcycle number and other information about his daily routine.
The intercepted call, played in the courtroom, however, had no mention of Vora’s role as mentioned in the statement. The conversation instead, had Rajan claiming that Dey wrote against him and that Vora and many others had spoken against Dey.
Special public prosecutor Pradip Gharat played the brief taped conversation in court to prove its contents and fix the identity of the caller. In the conversation, Rajan is heard telling the witness that accused Jigna Vora, also a journalist, used to keep on calling him to say things “against him (Dey)” and that he had worked for the rival gang. Vora has been charged for furnishing information that facilitated the killing. She has been out on bail since July 2012.
Jigna Vora was arrested for allegedly aiding and abetting the murder of former Mid-Day journalist Jyotirmoy Dey has rattled both the underworld and the journalist fraternity. Vora, who worked as the deputy bureau chief for the Asian Age, was talk of the town during those days. Later on she was granted bail, as nothing could be established against her.
Vora began her reporting career in 2006 with the Free Press Journal (FPJ). She reported on underworld don Abu Salem and former encounter specialist Daya Nayak. Post her stint with the FPJ, she worked with the Mumbai Mirror and Mid-Day until 2008.
Vora is from Mumbai and got married to a businessman in Gujarat at an early age. Soon after her marriage, her husband started beating her up. The couple, which later had a son, often had arguments. Vora, finally headed back for her parents’ home in Mumbai and filed for divorce. It was during those numerous courts visits that Vora got fascinated with court proceedings and the people she met there. With the help of a childhood friend, she got a job at the Free Press Journal to support her son and her parents. Vora’s role as a reporter gave her a new sense of empowerment.
Her transformation from a docile housewife to a confident reporter startled her close friends. She eventually graduated to doing stories related to the underworld. After her short stint with Mid-Day, Vora went on to join the Indian Express and later the Asian Age. After Dey’s murder, she was seen at the Mid-Day office trying to get his job. “She wanted to be made Head of Investigations, a post held by Dey. However, the management refused. They said they had not heard of her stories. She was furious at the refusal,” recalls a staff member with Mid-Day, who added that Vora’s crime reports were mediocre and not as sensational as that of Dey. With Vora’s arrest, the issue of journalists’ ties with gangsters has once again come to the fore. Crime reporters believe that it is often necessary for reporters to keep in touch with gangsters to get their facts right.
Anyway, now the gangster himself is back in the country, let’s see when the entire truth surfaces.
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