J Dey murder: Charges framed against Rajan
MUMBAI: Extradited gangster Rajendra Nikalje, alias Chotta Rajan, on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to charges framed by a designated MCOCA court in the murder of journalist J Dey. The gangster will now face the trial in the case.
Meanwhile, Shoba Ramchand, the mother of a witness-turned-accused in the case, Ravi Rateshwar, on Wednesday approached the court for relief for her son. She sought the permission to inspect court copies on behalf of her son.
Rateshwar is a Dubai-based businessman. The court, however, refused to entertain the application and asked her lawyer to file the application on behalf of Rateshwar as she has no locus standi in the case.
On the other hand, the MCOCA judge read out the charges framed against the gangster and explained them to him. He was produced before the court through video conferencing from Tihar jail.
The court said it would now begin the trial in the case against all the accused.
His lawyers told the court they don’t want to argue on the charges.
The gangster is charged for hatching the conspiracy to get the investigative journalist eliminate.
“The court has now asked the prosecution to submit a detailed plan on how it wants to proceed with the trial. The court will also recall the witnesses already examined by the prosecution for Rajan’s lawyer to re-examine them,” said advocate Jayesh Vitlani, who represents former journalist Jigna Vora in the case.
The CBI had sought to frame the charges against Rajan for his role as the main conspirator and the head of an organised crime syndicate which executed the murder of a former journalist J-Dey in June 2011.