J Dey murder case cracked, claims Mumbai Police

Mumbai: Sixteen days after Mid-Day crime reporter Jyotirmoy Dey was shot dead in the city, Mumbai Police’s Crime Branch today claimed to have cracked the case and said that underworld don Chhota Rajan was behind the murder, even as they remained tight-lipped about the motive. [caption id=“attachment_31812” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Mumbai Police has claimed that they have cracked the scribe’s murder case. Screen-grab from IBNLive”]  [/caption] “We have cracked the case. At least five persons have been detained from the state as well as from outside the state,” a senior Crime Branch official told PTI. “The murder was planned by Rohit Thangappan alias Satish Kalya at the behest of Chhota Rajan. Kalya is a known shooter of Rajan gang and has worked for him earlier too,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Himanshu Roy told reporters. “While three persons were arrested from Mumbai, three were arrested from Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu and one from Solapur,” he said. According to police, Kalya had received a call from Chhota Rajan around 20 days before June 11, the day when Dey was shot dead. “Rajan told Kalya he needs him to do a job and that money and weapons would be provided. Kalya then collected Rs two lakh from Chembur and the murder weapon along with 25 rounds of cartridges from Nainital,” Roy said. Police, however, did not disclose the motive behind the murder. The police have recovered the murder weapon. All the seven arrested in the case were produced before a local court which remanded them to police custody till 4 July. Roy further said that Rajan had kept the identity of the target a secret but had given description of the victim and his bike number a week before the killing. “Rajan had told Kalya, the target would be found either in Parel (where Mid-Day office is located) or in Powai, where Dey stayed. On June 9 and 10, Kaila along with his associate Anil Waghmode had formed a team of seven persons, tried to spot Dey in Powai area but failed. On June 11, they spotted him and Kalya, who was riding pillion, fired five rounds at Dey,” Roy said. PTI