Mumbai:
Investigating the J Dey murder case, the Mumbai police on Wednesday questioned a man called Nihal Tanna who had reportedly met the crime journalists a few days before the murder. Tanna was arrested 3 days ago in connection with an unrelated cheating and forgery case.
The police are not regarding this as a breakthrough but have termed it a crucial lead.
Tanna was questioned about some forged documents and letterheads recovered from him and whether he had shared these with Mr Dey.
Earlier in the day, Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said that he hoped the Mumbai Police would crack the case very soon.
"It is a very serious incident. It is a blot, which I personally feel because it pertains to the fourth estate," the Minister said while describing Mr Dey as "a very upright journalist."
Asked whether the murder of the senior journalist is an indication of breakdown of law and order in Maharashtra, Mr Deshmukh, a former Chief Minister of the state, said "Isolated incidents cannot be attributed to breakdown of law and order."
He said the crime branch is probing the case and the court which considered the matter is also "happy with the steps crime branch has taken."
"I think very soon they will crack the case," Mr Deshmukh said.
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday had directed the city police to file a report by July 6 on the progress of investigations into the murder of Mr Dey.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has assured a group of editors from print and electronic media yesterday that Mumbai Police would crack the case soon. (with PTI inputs)