CBI on Friday filed a supplementary charge-sheet against gangster Chhota Rajan in the J. Dey murder case, claiming that he had the journalist murdered because Dey's articles and a planned book portrayed Rajan as 'chindi' (a small fry).
The 300-page charge-sheet was filed at the special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act court in Mumbai.
Dey, a veteran crime reporter, had planned a 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 says.
The book was also to portray Dawood Ibrahim, Rajan's friend-turned-foe, as being superior to him. Dey was planning to write another two books before leaving journalism, and he had met several people for these book and visited Philippines and other countries.
Rajan, who was reportedly hiding in Malaysia, had called Dey for a meeting, but the journalist refused, CBI says.
In an intercepted conversation after Dey's death, Rajan "declared" Dey as "traitor" and his rival journalist Jigna Vora, an accused in the case, now on bail, as the one who instigated the murder, CBI says.
Rajan's henchmen who executed the murder conspiracy in Mumbai used to contact the gangster using international SIM cards which were activated only after midnight, it says.
The charge-sheet has statements of 41 witnesses. It names Ravi Ram Rattesar, earlier shown as a witness, as an accused, because he was found to be a key link between Rajan and other accused and had supplied some 20 SIM cards at Rajan's instructions, said a CBI officer.
A transcript of conversation between Rajan and Vora is also a part of the charge-sheet.
Forensic reports showed that the recorded voice sample of Rajan matches with the voice in the conversation, it says.
Last month, adjourning the hearing, the MCOCA court had said it would go ahead with framing of charges as per the charge-sheet earlier filed by Mumbai police's crime branch if the CBI failed to do so by August 5.
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 the CBI.
Dey was shot dead in suburban Powai on June 11, 2011.
The first charge-sheet filed in 2011 names Satiah 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 professional rivalry.
Agency sources said during the course of investigation which took off from where Mumbai Police had stopped, CBI interrogated Rajan, took his voice samples and forensically matching them with his intercepted conversation relating to the murder.
Giving details of their probe, the sources said in New Delhi that in the proposed book there were articles, including the one titled 'Rajan's men are off to pilgrimage', that had irked Rajan who believed that these write-ups gave a picture that the South-East Asia based gangster was losing grip over his gang while Ibrahim was given a much grandiose depiction.
The sources said Rajan also allegedly tried to convey a message to Dey to adopt a balanced narrative of Mumbai underworld giving him due respect and stop lauding Ibrahim as he suspected that Dey was writing positive portrayal of Ibrahim, while he was being shown as weaker don.
CBI spokesperson R. K. Gaur said, "Advanced and scientific techniques were adopted and Voice Sample of accused was also taken. Sufficient evidence has also emerged to establish that Global Roaming SIM cards were arranged by the accomplice of accused to the members of Organised Crime Syndicates."
