A week after veteran journalist Jyotirmoy Dey was shot dead in a broad daylight by unknown assailants in Powai, the police is yet to make any real headway in its investigations. After tom-tomming names of all different sections of the criminal fraternity and even being pointed in the wrong direction by an informant, the police now seems to have run out of theories to feed the media.
In another twist to the case, the Mumb
ai police control room received a call from a Yemeni number on Saturday. The caller claimed that Dey had been murdered by operatives of the Indian Mujahideen.
“The call was received at around 5.30 pm on Saturday. The caller said that a man named Mohammed Rafi had killed Dey. Rafi supposedly works for the Indian Mujahideen, and the shooters had been brought from Bihar, Hyderabad and Srinagar. They are supposed to have received `4 lakhs each for the murder,” said a police officer.
Crime branch chief Himanshu Roy confirmed that the call had been received. The crime branch is now tracing the call and verifying the caller’s claims.
Dey was shot dead near the D-Mart in Powai at 2.45 pm on June 11. As he reached Powai on his motorcycle after visiting his mother’s residence in Ghatkopar, four men on two motorcycles followed him, and shot him five times before fleeing the scene. He died on the way to Hiranandani Hospital in Powai.