Why our cops are clueless about J Dey's cold-blooded murder

A week after the murder of senior investigative journalist J Dey, all that the Mumbai police has to its credit are more than 25 theories and speculations, but no headway in the case.

Experts and senior police officers monitoring the investigation admit they are clueless about the accused and are working in all the possible directions to crack the case. However, important questions remain unanswered and the police faces only dead ends.

Coincidence or shrewd plan?
Initial investigations have thrown up technical aspects that have left the sleuths scratching their heads. The probe revealed there are at least nine closed-circuit camera televisions (CCTVs) within a radius of 50 meters from the spot of the shooting.

However, none of them capture the exact spot where Dey was shot. The cameras only captured the assailants’ backs for a few seconds as they fled after the murder. The images are very hazy, perhaps due to poor camera quality and heavy rains. There are at least two escape routes, which the shooters could have used to flee — no CCTV cameras are located there to capture their images.

Another aspect has left the police clueless. As the cops recreated the entire scene and travelled from Dey’s mother’s home in Amrut Nagar, Ghatkopar to D-Mart mall,Powai, they found at least eight locations which could have been used by the assailants to attack Dey.

There are more locations ahead of D-Mart that the accused could have used for the attack. “We are trying to figure out why the accused used only that particular spot near the D’ Mart for firing and no other” said a senior police official, involved with the investigation of the case.

The cops are yet to understand why Dey, who was travelling from Ghatkopar to Powai took around half an hour more then the usual time taken to cover the same distance.

What was the motive?
The police are unable to zero down on a clear motive that could have lead to the gruesome murder. With more than 25 theories and speculations going around, covering Dey’s professional work, his personal life and his property matters, too.

However, the police is working heavily on the oil mafia angle, as Dey, during the course of his journalistic career wrote a lot about this illegal syndicate. The underworld, politicians, and some businessmen allegedly have a high stake in the syndicate, the sources said.
Dey tipping the Intelligence Bureau (IB) about the illegal consignments leading to the losses for someone, is the other theory going around.
Another important speculation going around is about Dey wanting to go ahead with a story against sandalwood mafia in spite of being threatened.

People close to Dey reveal that though he was very friendly and down-to-earth, he was secretive about his work. This is the reason why even people close to him are not aware of the stories he was working on or the people with whom Dey remained in touch.

The police have not found clues from Dey’s home or the computer at his office.

Where are the informers?
Another aspect that may slow down the probe is that not many police personnel these days maintain a trusted informer base, unlike before, when cops heavily relied on a good set of informers.

The detention, sustained interrogation and then releasing three men by the investigators, after not able to find their involvement in the case, is the classic example of a poor informer base. The police in this case were misled by a police informer who gave them wrong information about the trio. According to sources, during such difficult cases, some informers try earning a quick buck or even to settle personal scores.

Not many witnesses have come forward who could shed some light about the appearances and description about the shooters. The cops are banking on their luck , for more witnesses , to come forward and provide them with some links to solve the case.