Mystery car may hold key to J Dey murder

Driver who was near the spot at the time was earlier thought to be an eyewitness, but cops now believe he could be the prime suspect

INVESTIGATIONS into the gruesome murder of J Dey, MiD DAY's Editor (Investigations), have revealed that the killing was planned with even more precision than previously thought and may have involved more players besides the four shooters on motorbikes.


The driver of the Zen, Anwar Shaikh, was waiting in the car very close to the scene of crime

Police suspect that a Maruti Zen, which was seized along with a bike yesterday, was also part of the operation and its driver, Anwar Shaikh, was waiting in the car at a short distance from the scene of crime at the time of Dey's murder. Shaikh was detained yesterday.

Officials said that while the men on the bikes followed the veteran reporter, the car was stationed in Powai. Interestingly, the police were earlier looking for Shaikh thinking that he could have been an eyewitness in the case but now believe that he could be a prime suspect.

Recent developments have also revealed that Dey had left his mother's house in Ghatkopar after receiving a call on the landline and the police are probing whether the call was made by someone connected to his murder.u00a0

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Detained
Four people were detained from Jogeshwari and Mumbra in connection with the crime. The accused Shaikh, Matin alias Iqbal Hatela, Imran Ansari and Sarobar were handed over to the Crime Branch for questioning.

A police team had also been sent to Pune to investigate the backgrounds of some people whose names had cropped up during the probe. Two among them were detained and brought to Mumbai late last night.


Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik comes out of Powai police station after cops detained four in the case

Another Mafia
While the police have been probing the involvement of the oil mafia so far, the needle of suspicion has also begun to veer towards the sandalwood mafia, which has been smuggling out the product using the sea route.
The angle is being probed and investigators are trying to ascertain whether Dey was working on a story regarding the illegal export of sandalwood.