'People linked with oil mafia could be behind Dey's murder'

Mumbai (PTI) - Police probing the murder of
senior journalist Jyotirmoy Dey Sunday said the killing could
be the handiwork of people associated with the oil mafia even
as western Indian state of Maharashtra Chief Minister
Prithviraj Chavan directed the city police chief to arrest
those responsible for the crime at the earliest.
A day after Dey was shot dead by unidentified
assailants in suburban Powai here sending shock waves in the
media fraternity, the Chief Minister today held an emergency
meeting at his residence and took stock of the investigations.
A senior police officer said on condition of
anonymity that "we are probing the incident from all angles.
But our line of investigation is going towards checking the
possible involvement of people associated with the oil mafia.
The journalist had extensively written a number of news
reports on the oil mafia, which may have triggered them to
eliminate him.
"We have a reason to believe that the killers must
have been hired from outside Mumbai or maybe from outside
Maharashtra," the officer said, adding four teams have been
formed by the Crime Branch to probe the matter on a priority
basis.
The way the killing was executed, it was very clear
that the assailants had made a perfect plan to eliminate the
journalist, the officer said.
Meanwhile, the post-mortem report prepared by
government-run J J Hospital says that five bullets were fired
at Dey, who was working as an investigative editor with Mid-
Day. While four bullets pierced through his body, one bullet
had got stuck in his right chest.
"Three bullets hit his left arm and one his left part
of the chest. One bullet had got stuck in his right part of
the chest," said the officer.
Dey's last rites were performed at suburban Ghatkopar
here. Scribes from various print and electronic media were
present.
State Home Minister R R Patil, Police Commissioner
Arup Patnaik, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Himanshu
Roy, Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and order) Rajnish
Seth and several senior government officers were present at
the meeting called by the Chief Minister.
Talking to the reporters after the meeting, Home
Minister R R Patil said that necessary measures would be taken
by the government to protect the journalists.
He also said that special police teams have been
constituted to arrest the culprits in the present case.
Adequate security will be provided to Dey's family
members, official sources said.