J Dey Murder: A complete guide to the case that inspired Netflix series ‘Scoop’

Here’s a complete guide to the case:

Who was Jyotirmoy Dey?

Jyotirmoy Dey,  popularly known as J Dey, was a Mumbai-based journalist who had worked at numerous renowned media houses. Considered an expert on the Mumbai underworld, Dey wrote two books on its history and evolution, titled ‘Zero Dial: The Dangerous World of Informers’ and ‘Khallas – an A to Z Guide to the Underworld’.

At the time of his death, the 56-year-old was working as the Editor of Special Investigations at the city-based daily ‘Mid Day’. He is survived by his wife and mother.

A daylight murder

Dey was shot dead in broad daylight on June 11, 2011 afternoon at around 3 pm in the Powai suburb of Mumbai. He was on his way home on his motorcycle when four persons, travelling on two motorcycles, opened fire at him.

As per an Indian Express report on June 13, 2011, post-mortem reports had revealed that Dey had been shot five times at close range, with four bullets hitting the left side of his chest and one piercing his shoulder. His mobile phone, which was in the front pocket of his shirt, was completely damaged by the bullet shot but police said that they were able to retrieve the SIM card and send it for analysis of call and text records. Police had also seized his other mobile phones and laptops.

Initially, police said that they suspected that he was murdered as a result of his reporting on the illicit oil mafia in Mumbai. They had also floated the theory of a possible underworld hit. “The manner in which the motorcycle-borne shooters carried out the firing and fled before being caught or noticed by people suggests they were well aware of the locality and had planned how to flee once the job was done,” an officer had told Indian Express. Police had also investigated Dey’s “mysterious tour to Europe” weeks before his death.

The murder case

More than five months after the killing, police had arrested Jigna Vora, the deputy bureau chief of the English daily Asian Age, in connection with Dey’s killing. Police had accused her of “conspiracy to murder” and cited professional rivalry as the motive. They had claimed that she had used her office and personal computer to send e-mails with Dey’s photograph and description – a judge later dismissed these allegations.

The cops, who had zeroed in on gangster Chhota Rajan as having ordered the shooting via his aide Vinod Asrani alias Vinod Chemburkar, had accused Vora of supplying Asrani with Dey’s motorcycle number and address to identify him.

Four years later, in June 2015, a special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court had framed charges against 10 accused, including Vora. They were charged with being part of Rajan’s underworld gang and hatching a conspiracy to kill Dey. According to the police, Chhota Rajan, upset with articles written by Dey purportedly portraying him in a bad light, had ordered his murder.

Who is Jigna Vora?

Vora is a law graduate who had built a career as a court and crime reporter. She was also a single mother who had moved to Mumbai from Gujarat in 2002 after separating from her husband.

Then in her mid-thirties, Vora had written extensively about the Mumbai underworld, including gangsters like Dawood Ibrahim, Chhota Rajan, Chhota Shakeel and Santosh Shetty, among others, as per an Indian Express article from the time.

In the weeks after Dey’s death, Vora had filed a report titled ‘Did UK Indian drug lord order Dey hit?’, in which she raised questions about the involvement of an unnamed don who was on India’s extradition list. A month later, she had reported that the conspiracy to kill Dey was hatched at a lavish bungalow of bookie-turned-real estate developer Vinod Chembur.

She was arrested from her home in eastern Mumbai’s Ghatkopar suburb on November 25, 2011. “At 11.30 am the Crime Branch officers came to our door. We were shocked to see such bulky officers here. They told Jigna that they wanted to take her to the Crime Branch unit for a few enquiries,” Vora’s grandfather Tulsidas Hargovindas had told Indian Express. Her mother Harsha had told the paper that after an English tabloid reported that a senior journalist may be involved in the J Dey murder case, Jigna had expressed her fear that she might be pulled in.

Vora was granted bail considering her status as a single mother and clean past records, and later released from Mumbai Byculla jail on August 11, 2012.

What was the case verdict?

In May 2018, Vora was acquitted of all charges against her, with the court observing that there was “no trustworthy evidence” against her.

“There is nothing in their [prosecution’s] evidence to suggest that the accused… Jigna Vora had instigated…Chhota Rajan to commit the murder of J Dey or that she had any other role in this offence. In fact, even in the various extrajudicial confessions made by… Rajan… he has nowhere stated that he got J Dey murdered because of the instigation by… Vora or anybody else,” the court had observed, as per an Indian Express report.

The court further observed: “Even the recovery of various mobile phones and SIM cards of Vora and the relevant CDRs fail to connect… Vora with the offence in question. Hence…Vora has to be acquitted of all the charges against her.”

According to a report in the Indian Express, Vora had broken down on hearing the verdict and later said that she was happy to be proven innocent. When asked if she wanted to return to journalism, she had reportedly pointed to the beads she was wearing in her hand, saying she wanted to continue with that. The court records list her occupation as ‘healing meditation’, added the report.

The court also awarded life sentences to Chhota Rajan and eight others for Dey’s murder. Vinod Asrani had died of liver complications in 2015.