Mumbai:
The police have not been able to make any breakthrough in the sensational murder of Jyotirmoy Dey, a senior crime reporter with Mid DAY, who was shot dead at point blank range in broad daylight by unidentified men outside a mall in Mumbai on Saturday. He was rushed to the Hiranandani hospital where he was declared brought dead.
The police are yet to establish the motive of the attack.
"We are verifying his mobile phone records and will record the statement of his family members, who reside in Ghatkopar," a police officer said.
According to the post-mortem report today, five bullets were pumped into Mr Dey's body. Out of those, four bullets pierced through while one hit the shoulder and did not come out.
The report also confirms death due to bullet injury. The body has now been sent for ballistic examination to ascertain the weapon use.
Mr Dey had recently written a series of stories on the adulteration of diesel in Thane and contrary to Maharashtra Home Minister RR Patil's statement, he had indeed sought police protection after he received threatening calls.
Mumbai Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik said, "It (the killing) is a job done professionally... we are doing the investigation on the lines that it is done by an organised syndicate. The case has been given to the Crime Branch from the start because it is a matter of veteran journalist and I think this incident is the first of its kind. We are taking this case seriously" he added.
Mr Dey's last rites will be held in Mumbai today.
Maharashtra Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan has condemned Mr Dey's murder and has appealed to journalists to approach the police if they perceive any threats.
"I am extremely disturbed about the incident in Mumbai where Mr Dey, a leading reporter of the evening daily Mid DAY, was brutally murdered. We've taken a very serious note of the incident. The entire top police leadership is camping in Powai police station. We will get to the bottom of this, we will apprehend the culprits. But, in the meanwhile, I appeal to journalists, if they perceive any threat anywhere, they should approach the authorities," Mr Chavan said.
According to police, four motorcycle-borne men fired at Mr Dey yesterday afternoon. The shooters escaped from the spot, they added.
"Approximately, 9 entry-exit wounds were found which means at least 5 bullets were fired", Vishwas Nagare Patil, Additional CP, Special Branch, Mumbai Police said.
The police are examining CCTV footage from the mall, D Mart, which shows two assailants sneak up to Mr Dey around 2:40 pm and then fire at him from point blank range.
Mr Dey, the Investigations Editor with MiD DAY, used to report extensively on Mumbai's underworld, including fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim Chhota Rajan and others. In fact, he had covered the recent firing on Dawood's brother Iqbal Kaskar in the city.
The police are now looking at the possibility of the underworld syndicate being involved in Mr Dey's killing.
Sachin Kalbaug, the Group Editor of MiD DAY, expressed 'shock' over Mr Dey's death. But Mr Kalbaug was cautious about reports of the underworld's role in his colleague's death, dubbing it "premature".
"We should not jump to conclusions...no idea whether personal enmity or whether any gang is responsible...To link this to the Dawood story would be incorrect...Many reporters in the city were doing the same", said Mr Kalbaug.
Mr Dey was considered to be arguably India's best-connected writer on the Mumbai underworld. He spent most of his reporting career bringing out accounts of the goings-on in the Mumbai underworld for several newspapers including the Indian Express and the Hindustan Times.
He is the author of 'Zero Dial: The Dangerous World of Informers' and 'Khallas' - considered a dictionary on the Mumbai underworld.
Curiously, the journalist met with his end while he was reportedly working on a series on Dawood.
Meanwhile, journalists in Mumbai have demanded strong action against the culprits. They will hold a march to Mantralaya today to protest the attack on J Dey.