HC declines bail to 4 convicts in journalist J Dey murder case

Mumbai, Oct 6 (PTI) The Bombay High Court on Monday refused to grant bail and suspend the life sentence imposed on four persons convicted in the 2011 murder of senior crime journalist Jyotirmoy Dey popularly known as J Dey.

A bench of Justices Ravindra Ghuge and Gautam Ankhad, while rejecting their bail and life sentence suspension pleas, observed it does not deem it appropriate to suspend the sentence and grant bail to the convicts.

A detailed copy of the judgment was not available yet.

The HC rejected the applications filed by the convicts -- Nilesh Shedge, Sachin Gaikwad, Abhijit Shinde and Mangesh Aagvane -- all of whom were pronounced guilty by the trial court in May 2018 and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Shedge and Shinde had travelled to Nainital in Uttarakhand to procure the firearm used in the killing. Gaikwad conducted surveillance on Dey and provided a motorcycle for the shooters, while Aagvane was said to have accompanied the main shooter, Satish Kalia, according to the prosecution.

All four were found guilty of assisting in the planning and execution of the murder by arranging weapons, vehicles, and aiding the shooters.

Dey, 56, was shot dead on June 11, 2011, in Mumbai's Powai area. Underworld don Chhota Rajan was also convicted in the murder case and sentenced to life imprisonment by the trial court. Dey's case marked the first conviction of Rajan after his extradition from Bali, Indonesia, in 2015. PTI SP RSY