A Special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) Court on Wednesday sentenced to life imprisonment to mafia don Rajendra S. Nikhalje alias Chhota Rajan and eight others found guilty in the sensational June 2011 killing of journalist J. Dey.

The verdict was pronounced by Special MCOCA Court Judge Sameer Adkar, after several hours of arguments between Special Public Prosecutor Pradip Gharat and the defence lawyers on the quantum of punishment after nine of the accused were held guilty this morning.

The court acquitted two co-accused, including former journalist Jigna Vora and Joseph Paulson, who was charged with providing mobile SIM cards for executing the planned murder.

The prime accused found guilty was Chhota Rajan, who had ordered the "hit" on Dey, a veteran crime reporter of Mumbai.

The mafia don was deported from Bali in Indonesia in November 2015 and subsequently made an accused in the case

The 56-year old Dey, who was the Editor (Investigations) of Midday eveninger, was shot dead on June 11, 2011 near his Powai residence in central suburban Mumbai, shocking the media community.

Of the 11 accused, eight, including some sharps-hooters, have been found guilty, almost seven years after the daylight killing of Dey in a public place.