STAFF REPORTER Mumbai

Citing " strong" circumstantial, electronic and testimonial evidence, the Mumbai Police on Tuesday filed a supplementary charge sheet in the MCOCA court against Jigna Vora for her alleged role in the murder of fellow journalist J Dey, calling her an " instigator," three months after her arrest.

Speaking about the charge sheet, Joint Commissioner of Police ( Crime) Himanshu Roy said, " We have evidence that Vora was part of the criminal conspiracy which began taking shape in 2010. The case is built around the ill will between Dey and Vora, which stemmed from their attempts to extract information from Chhota Rajan henchman Farid Tanasha." Citing other examples of professional rivalry between Vora and Dey, the joint commissioner of police said that on May 19 last year Dey had published an article stating that Dawood Ibrahim had left Pakistan.

" We have evidence that on May 25 Vora telephoned Rajan to verify if Dawood had left Pakistan. Subsequently, on May 26, she had written an article falsifying Deys news story," he said, adding that all these details have been elaborated in the charge sheet.

In the 1471- page supplementary charge sheet, the Crime Branch has charged Vora under the stringent provisions of MCOCA, various sections of IPC like murder, criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence, and the Arms Act. The filing of the charge sheet coincided with Voras birthday. The experts in the Forensic Science Laboratory have prepared a 2,400- page report on the data retrieved from electronic gadgets of Vora. The sleuths had sent for examination seven mobile phones, including three Blackberry phones, an I- Phone, a Galaxy tab and a Nokia phone along with a hard disk and a laptop belonging to Vora, to the FSL. " There were at least 30 telephone conversations between Rajan and Vora between the month of May and June before the murder. We have attached these details," Roy told media persons.

" We have evidence that she had spoken ill about Dey to gangsters and Rajan had taken her name while speaking to others saying how Vora had instigated him, which subsequently resulted in the killing of Dey," Roy said.

The sleuths don't have transcripts of Vora talking to Rajan directly, but have electronic evidence of her e- mails giving details of Deys bike number.

Adds Roy, " The charge sheet also mentions that Vora was in the know of what was going to happen." The MCOCA court has extended the judicial custody of all the arrested accused, including Vora, till March 12. Earlier, on December 3, the police had filed 3,055- page chargesheet against 10 arrested accused, including Rajan and the assailants.