The senior journalist had earlier said that the alleged killer publicly admitted that he regretted murdering J Dey
mid-day’s Investigative Editor J Dey was shot down at this spot in Powai on June 11, 2011 by bike-borne assailants
A year after a senior crime journalist told the police he had witnessed a public confession by the alleged killer of mid-day’s Investigative Editor J Dey, he recanted his statement during a hearing in the murder trial yesterday.
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A journalist from Navbharat Times, Sunil Mehrotra was then declared a hostile witness by the prosecution. During his deposition, Mehrotra told the court that he had been working with the media organisation since 1990 and covered the crime beat.
Crucial statement
A few members of Chhota Rajan’s gang, including sharp-shooter Satish Kalia, were arrested. When they were taken to court, Kalia allegedly admitted to reporters that he regretted killing J Dey and that he had no idea that Dey was a journalist.
In his statement to the CBI, recorded on April 22, 2016, Mehrotra had said: “Shooter Satish Kalia and his associates were arrested by CID crime branch and taken to court. When questioned by the reporters, Kalia told them — including me that had he been aware that J Dey was a reporter, he would not have killed him.”
Backtracking
However, when Special Public Prosecutor Pradip Gharat mentioned his statement, Mehrotra said he had not been present at the courthouse when Kalia and the other accused were brought there. Gharat then declared Mehrotra a hostile witness.
Mehrotra was questioned why his statement referred to such an incident if he wasn’t present at court that day. He was further asked why he hadn’t read his own statement and pointed out the discrepancy earlier. To this, Mehrotra said that his statement had not been recorded on computer but in shorthand. He added that he had been too afraid of the CBI officers to ask for a copy of his statement. The prosecutor then suggested that perhaps the witness had turned hostile because he was scared of the accused, but Mehrotra said this was not true.
Apart from Mehrotra, the publisher of J Dey’s two books also testified in court and said that they were working on a book on underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, which did not work out. The case has been adjourned to Friday.
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