Dey's murder sends shock waves among journalists

Some allege that a chain of events could point the needle of suspicion to a senior police official

The sister of senior journalist Jyotendra Dey, who was shot dead on Saturday near his residence, wails before his funeral on Sunday. Photo: PTI

The killing of senior crime reporter Jyotendra Dey has sent shock waves among journalists, who are filled with anger and resentment. As there are theories about the involvement of either the oil mafia or the underworld being responsible, some senior journalists have alleged that there is a chain of events which could point the needle of suspicion to a senior police official too.

“There are two possibilities that I can think of. One is that his (Dey's) stories may have upset the oil mafia smuggling oil from the sea, or that some senior police officers may have been rubbed the wrong way by his stories,” Akela alias Tarakant Dwivedi, Jyotendra Dey's friend and colleague at MiD Day, who was recently arrested under the Official Secrets Act, told The Hindu from Lucknow.

“There is a possibility that an officer in the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police must have got upset with Jyotendra Dey's stories. When

Hindustan Times was launched in Mumbai, Jyotendra Dey was the crime head there. He had written a story saying Salman Khan had connection with Noora, Dawood Ibrahim's brother. In a box in that story, he had carried the names of police officers who he said had a nexus with the underworld,” Akela said.

He further said a police officer had filed a defamation suit against Dey at the metropolitan court. “The hearing was going on. Recently, Dey had also submitted a 2007 Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) report to the State Home Minister, which clearly showed the nexus between some senior police officers and the underworld. The Minister promised action, but nothing has happened.”

He said that the ACB report talked of threats to a builder from the underworld and later from the police. “There was a builder who wanted to do a slum redevelopment project at Antop Hill. But he did not have enough money. So someone took him to Haseena [Parkar], Dawood's sister. She gave him money, but the project couldn't be completed.”

“Haseena wanted her money back so she told the same senior police officer (who had filed a case against Dey) to get the money from the builder. This officer not only hounded the builder for her money but also demanded his share in it. The ACB report had the details of all of it,” Akela said.

He said that the team of reporters working with Dey in MiD Day recently got the news about another important story against the same senior police officer and they were trying to verify it. “Jyotendra Dey was meeting a lot of informers in relation to that story. There is a possibility that one of the informers must have leaked it to the police officer.”

Even Iqbal Mandani, senior crime journalist and a close friend of Dey, told The Hindu on Saturday that he did not think that the underworld might have been involved in the killing. “I don't think that the oil mafia or the underworld is involved in his killing. Jyotendra Dey wrote during the heydays of underworld activities here. Nothing happened to him then. Maybe, he was working on a story against someone, and they got a hint of it,” he said.

TV Journalists Association president Shashikant Sandbhor said there was a chain of events to suspect the involvement of some police officers. “After Akela's arrest, Jyotendra Dey was the most instrumental person in getting him out. He had submitted the ACB report to the Home Minister. The Minister promised action, but nothing happened. Maybe, that report must have upset some police officers.”