Rs 5 lakh: Cost of a journalist’s life

According to the police, underworld don Chhota Rajan paid his cronies this amount to bump off MiD DAY scribe; cops recover US-made gun, bikes, runaway vehicle and seize 10 mobile phones

Rs 5 lakh: Cost of a journalist's life

According to the police, underworld don Chhota Rajan paid his cronies this amount to bump off MiD DAY scribe; cops recover US-made gun, bikes, runaway vehicle and seize 10 mobile phones

A fortnight after MiD DAY's Editor (Investigations) J Dey was shot in cold blood in Powai, the Mumbai Crime Branch has claimed to have cracked the murder mystery.

Mumbai Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik addresses a press conference announcing the breakthrough in the J Dey murder case as Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Himanshu Roy looks on

According to the police, underworld gangster Chhota Rajan ordered the hit on Dey and seven of his hardcore killers executed the plan for a Rs 5-lakh supari.

The cops, who were groping in the dark and following every bit clue, arrested the seven accused from Mumbai, Solapur and Rameshwaram.

The cops picked up Rohit Thangappan Joseph alias Satish Kalia (34), Abhijeet Shinde (28) and Anil Vaghmode (35) from Rameshwaram, where they were all set to flee the city and head to Tirupati.

Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) Himanshu Roy said, "During the interrogation of these three, they revealed the details of the plot and the names of their associates.

A team went to Solapur and arrested Nilesh Shengde while other accused Arun Doke (27), Sachin Gaikwad and Mangesh Aagavne (25) were arrested in Mumbai."

He added, "A Qualis was also seized from Rameshwaram and two bikes were detained from Aagavne's residence."

The police have also recovered the alleged murder weapon from Kalia.

Investigations reveal that Rajan had called Kalia three weeks before the murder to give him the contract to murder Dey.

Murder weapon
Police sources divulged that Kalia was given Rs 2 lakh and ordered to collect the murder weapon from Nainital.u00a0 The weapon, in police custody, is a US-made 0.32 bore revolver.

Forming a team
Authorities also disclosed that after receiving the contract for Dey, Kalia started recruiting people for the mission.

According to Roy, Kalia first contacted Vaghmode and asked him to form a team, who in turn got in touch with Doke, Gaikwad and Shinde.

Revealing details about the murder, Roy further added that Kalia had hired seven people to ensure that the mission was accomplished without any hiccups.

"They had six people on the bike following Dey on the day of shootout and a Qualis. The reason for so many men was to have enough manpower and ensure that no one interferes in the hit.

Another reason for having the car was if someone slipped in the rain, he could be whisked away in the car," said Roy.

Police also revealed that they had seized 10 mobile phones from the accused and have sent them for processing.

Initial inquiries suggest that Kalia and Rajan have been in constant touch and now cops are awaiting technical details.