Mumbai:
A senior investigative journalist working with MiD DAY was today shot in broad daylight by unidentified persons in Mumbai. The victim, Jyotirmoy Dey, was rushed to the Hiranandani hospital where he was declared brought dead.
The incident occurred outside a mall close to his home in the suburban Powai area of the city. According to police, four motorcycle-borne men fired at Mr Dey this afternoon. The shooters escaped from the spot, police added.
"Approximately, 9 entry-exit wounds were found which means at least 5 bullets were fired", Vishwas Nagare Patil, Additional CP, Special Branch, Mumbai Police said.
The police are now examining CCTV footage from the mall, D Mart, which shows two assailants sneak up to Mr Dey around 2:40 pm and then fire at him from point blank range.
Mr Dey, the Investigations Editor with MiD Day, used to report extensively on Mumbai's underworld, including fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim Chhota Rajan and others. In fact, he had covered the recent firing on Dawood's brother Iqbal Kaskar in the city.
The police are now looking at the possibility of the underworld syndicate being involved in Mr Dey's killing.
"A few days ago, he had met security officers, but he never expressed any doubt or complained about his security. He did not expect something like this to happen", said Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil.
Meanwhile, Sachin Kalbaug, the Group Editor of MiD DAY, expressed 'shock' over Mr Dey's death. But Mr Kalbaug was cautious about reports of the underworld's role in his colleague's death, dubbing it "premature".
"We should not jump to conclusions...no idea whether personal enmity or whether any gang is responsible...To link this to the Dawood story would be incorrect...Many reporters in the city were doing the same", said Mr Kalbaug.
Mr Dey was considered to be arguably India's best-connected writer on the Mumbai underworld. He spent most of his reporting career bringing out accounts of the goings-on in the Mumbai underworld for several newspapers including the Indian Express and the Hindustan Times.
He is the author of 'Zero Dial: The Dangerous World of Informers' and 'Khallas' - considered a dictionary on the Mumbai underworld.
Curiously, the journalist met with his end while he was reportedly working on a series on Dawood.