Indian court sentences gangster, 8 others for life in journalist's murder

NEW DELHI, May 2 (Xinhua) -- A local court in India's western state of Maharashtra Wednesday sentenced nine people including gangster Chhota Rajan in killing of a senior journalist Jyotirmoy Dey.

"The special court here today handed over life imprisonment to nine people including gangster Chhota Rajan in the killing of senior journalist that took place some seven years before," an official said. "The court however, acquitted former journalist Jigna Vora, who was charged with instigating Rajan to carry out the killing in 2011."

The 56-year-old Dey was shot by two motorcycle-borne men on June 11, 2011 in suburban Powai when he was returning home. He worked as a senior editor for the Mumbai based local daily Mid Day.

The court also imposed a fine of 38,991 U.S. dollars on each of the convicts.

Rajan was deported to India in 2015 following his arrest at Bali airport in Indonesia. He is currently lodged in Tihar jail of Delhi.

Prosecution told court the killing was carried out at the behest of Rajan, who was reportedly unhappy with the negative reports that Dey had been writing on his diminishing clout in the Mumbai underworld. Enditem