J Dey chargesheet to be delayed as cops probe another journalist’s role

The Crime Branch had initially planned to file a chargesheet on November 2,but sources said on Tuesday that after a meeting between top Crime Branch officers and a senior lawyer on Monday evening,the police were advised to take advantage of the additional time available to it under the provisions of MCOCA.

“The Crime Branch will file an application through public prosecutor Dilip Shah to the special MCOCA court on Wednesday,seeking an extension for filing the chargesheet. It can ask for a maximum of 45 days for filing it. Notices will be given to the defence in the case and the court will set a date for arguments on granting the extension. A final order will be delivered later,” said a police source.

Under MCOCA,the police can seek an extension of 90 days for filing a chargesheet. If MCOCA is not applied in a case,the arrested men must be granted bail if a chargesheet is not filed within 90 days of their arrest. On September 16,the public prosecutor had filed an application under Section 21 (2) (b) of the MCOCA,seeking an extension of two months for filing the chargesheet. After hearing arguments,the court had granted an extension of 45 days,ending November 4.

According to police sources,the Crime Branch intends to probe whether the journalist in question was regularly in touch with fugitive gangster Chhota Rajan,an accused in the case,and gave him the registration number of Dey’s bike along with his office and residence address. This information is suspected to have been used by the alleged killers to survey and lay the groundwork for the murder,the Crime Branch alleged.

Sources said the Crime Branch also wants to investigate whether this journalist told Rajan that Dey had been writing ill against him and had read out reports to the gangster in an effort to get stories by winning the don’s trust.

“It has been learnt that following the murder,Rajan told other journalists that this journalist had passed on Dey’s personal details to him. The Crime Branch intends to probe these allegations as Rajan’s statements could serve as an extra-judicial confession,” said a source.

However,sources close to the journalist said the police were maligning the journalist without a shred of evidence to back their claims. “If the Crime Branch has any evidence against the journalist,why are they not naming the person openly? Why are they simply planting such information without going on record and filing charges formally? This is simply because they have no evidence against the journalist,” a close friend said.

“The journalist is new in the field and it is ridiculous to believe that Rajan would not have told his own men to get information,such as the number of Dey’s bike or his address. As far as maligning Dey goes,where is the evidence that this journalist did so? It is equally ridiculous to believe that Rajan would get Dey killed simply because this journalist allegedly spoke ill of him to the gangster,” the friend added.