Mumbai:
It has been over 24 hours since senior investigative journalist Jyotirmoy Dey was murdered in broad daylight in Mumbai, yet the police are struggling for concrete leads.
"There is no concrete evidence so far but I'm told the cops are working on a breakthrough", said Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.
According to the police, the murder was committed using 7.65 mm pistols - a weapon mostly used by the Dawood Ibrahim gang. Although the motive is not clear, sources say it may not just be Dey's stories on the D gang or the oil mafia that led to his murder. There might be a personal vendetta angle.
Police say the possible suspects are:
- Dawood's sister Haseena Parkar and policemen close to the gang that Mr Dey did stories against.
- Encounter cop Pradeep Sharma and oil mafia leader Janardhan Bhai - who are accused in the murder of gangster Lakhan Bhaiyya. Both of them are allegedly close to the D gang and are already under arrest. Mr Dey was currently collecting information on the alleged murder of an eyewitness by them.
- Chhota Rajan gang member Umaid Khan who is a prime accused in the recent attack on Dawood's brother Iqbal Kaskar. Mr Dey had written a piece on his mother that he considered derogatory.
Special police teams are probing into the death of Mr Dey following an emergency meeting convened by the state Chief Minister at his residence where he took stock of the investigation, officials said. (
Read: Dey's family to get protection, special teams for probe)
Amid reports that the journalist had been receiving death threats, his family has also been provided police protection.
The police, meanwhile, are examining the CCTV footage of Crisil House, which is located opposite the scene of the crime. The footage, though, isn't very clear because it was raining heavily at the time of the journalist's murder. They are also combing through Dey's call records for clues.