By IANS,
Mumbai : Almost a month after journalist Jyotirmoy Dey was shot dead allegedly at the behest of mafia don Chhota Rajan, the eight accused in the case were Friday booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), police said.
“The police have invoked MCOCA against all the accused in the (Dey) case,” Mumbai Police Joint Commissioner (Crime) Himanshu Roy told media persons here.
The eight include the sharp-shooter who fired at Dey, his associates and a Mumbai-based bookie. Police have, however, yet to ascertain the motive for the killing.
Under the MCOCA, the accused cannot be granted bail easily and any statement recorded in front of an officer of the rank of the deputy commissioner of police or higher is admissible as evidence in the court of law.
The MCOCA’s provisions cane be invoked if at least two members of an organised mafia gang have at least two or more charge sheets lodged against them in any police station.
Police carefully examined all options before applying the MCOCA, a police official said, adding that several legal experts and prosecutors were consulted to ensure that they had a water-tight case under the MCOCA against the arrested eight people.
Mumbai eveninger Mid Day’s editor for special investigations), the 56-year-old Dey was gunned down June 11 near his residence in Powai, north-east Mumbai.
After over three weeks of investigations, police finally managed to nab seven of the accused from Mumbai, Sholapur in Maharashtra, and Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu.
The nabbed men are Rohit Thankappan Joseph alias Satish Kalya, the sharpshooter who targeted Dey, and his accomplices Abhijeet Kasharam Shinde, Arun Janardhan Dake, Sachin Suresh Gaikwad, Anil Bhanudas Waghmode, Nilesh Narayan Shendge alias Bablu, and Mangesh Damodar Agawane.
Later, police also nabbed a bookie, Vinod Asrani alias Vinod Chembur, who has been accused of identifying Dey to the killers and financing the operation.