Dey murder case: Cops to seek further remand of Jigna Vora

Police will on Thursday cite "new developments" in the murder case of crime reporter J Dey while seeking the extension of custody of woman journalist Jigna Vora, who was arrested last week.

Vora, Deputy Bureau Chief of English daily The Asian Age, was arrested on November 25 in the Dey murder case and remanded in police custody till December 1 by a special  court.

She would be produced in the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act Court, where investigators will plead for her further custody, a senior Crime Branch official said on Wednesday.

"During her interrogation, new developments have surfaced that need to be probed further. For this, her custody is necessary. We also want to confront Vora and another  accused Paulson Joseph," the official added.

Police had on Tuesday moved an application in the MCOCA Court seeking custody of Joseph, an alleged aide of underworld don Chhota Rajan, whose gang has been blamed  for Dey's murder.

Joseph, lodged in Arthur Road Jail under judicial custody, is suspected to have met Vora before the sensational killing in June. Police want to know what transpired between Joseph and Vora, the eleventh accused arrested in the case.

The arguments on the application were to take place on Wednesday but the court adjourned the matter till on Thursday.

Joseph had allegedly provided global SIM cards to the accused involved in the murder of Dey as well as a firing case. The cards were procured from Dubai, police said.

Dey, working with English tabloid Mid-Day, was shot dead in suburban Powai on June 11.

Before being apprehended in Dey's case, Joseph was held in the May 17 firing at Pakmodia street in Mumbai, in which Arif Syed Abu Bukha, bodyguard-cum-driver of Iqbal Kaskar, brother of Dawood Ibrahim, was killed.