The special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court on Saturday directed the Mumbai Police Crime Branch to approach the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for professional assistance in retrieving data from a hard disk recovered from the computer of journalist Jigna Vora, among those arrested in the J Dey murder case.

The Mumbai Police Crime Branch, considered to be a top-notch investigation agency with several feathers in its cap, told the court that its officers had been unsuccessful in retrieving the data because the Mumbai Police computers were Windows-based machines while Vora’s computer appeared to be a Mac.

The police seized the hard disk in December 2011, not long after Vora’s arrest in November 2011. Police sources refused to comment on whether they had earlier tried to retrieve data from the hard disk. Vora was granted bail on July 27, 2012, after spending eight months behind bars.

In January, Vora’s counsel advocate Jayesh Vithlani had filed an application, seeking his client’s discharge from the case. The application read that the prosecution did not have enough evidence to prove her involvement in the alleged murder. However the prosecution had opposed the application on the grounds that there was enough evidence against the scribe.

On Saturday, in order to produce evidence against Vora, Crime Branch officials sought permission from the court to retrieve vital data from her hard disk.

An official, on condition of anonymity said, “We tried our best to copy the data on to our computer, but since the operating system differs we were unable to do so. Hence the court directed us to take assistance of professionals from the FSL.”

J Dey, a veteran crime journalist, was shot dead by two bike-borne assailants on the afternoon on June 2011, in Powai, while he was riding his bike. Eleven people were arrested including Vora.