Mumbai: Observing she has a child to look after and is a single parent, a special Court today granted bail to Jigna Vora, held under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) for her alleged complicity in the murder of fellow journalist Jyotirmoy Dey.
Special MCOCA court judge S M Modak ordered Vora`s release on a surety of Rs one lakh after observing that she had no criminal antecedents. He also noted that the charge sheet had been filed and her custody was no longer required.
Other grounds for granting bail to Vora were that she was unwell due to asthma. While granting bail, the judge also cited the forensic science laboratory`s failure to retrieve details of calls allegedly made by Vora from her mobile phone to underworld don Chhota Rajan, who was claimed to have ordered Dey`s killing.
The court asked Vora to report to the Crime Branch twice a week and deposit her passport with the investigating agency immediately. She was also warned not to tamper with evidence.
Claiming innocence, Vora had sought liberty on grounds of ill health and that she had to look after her minor child. Vora, deputy chief of the bureau of the English daily Asian Age, had said she was falsely implicated in the murder of Dey, Editor (Investigations) with city tabloid Mid-Day.
The Forensic Science Laboratory, Kalina, said in its report to the court on July 23 that data from six handsets recovered from Vora could not be fetched as it did not have the necessary tools.
Police had said that Vora texted SMSes to her friends, acquaintances, and also to the slain journalist during the course of her duty and those might throw light on the murder.
Vora was arrested on November 25 last year under stringent anti-crime law MCOCA. According to police, the murder was plotted and executed allegedly at the behest of Chhota Rajan whom Vora had instigated owing to professional rivalry with Dey.