"The police and underworld don't hit because someone was ticked off about a journalist," says S. Balakrishnan, a senior Mumbai journalist. "It costs huge amounts of money, boys, tremendous planning. Also, the provocation must be grave or severe."

A murder without a motive, says Suresh K

On the afternoon of June 11, veteran Mumbai crime reporter Jyotirmoy Dey was on his motorcycle, returning home to Powai after visiting his mother in Vikhroli, when he was shot and killed. The murder has roiled the journalistic fraternity, because it sends another reminder that reporters doing work of real consequence are placing their lives on the line, and also because, yet again, it has resulted in an inconclusive investigation that doesn't prove any motive.

Condolences, and denunciations of the assailants, poured in from national leaders, but seasoned journalists have not been mollified. If anything, their anger has been compounded, because police are said to be playing the fame game, sending leaks to the young, eager reporters seeking exclusives – leaks that expose flaws in the case rather than give any solutions. First, the police put forth some seven theories about the culprits – oil mafia, sand mafia, sandalwood mafia, a police officer who held a grudge gainst Dey, gangster Chhota Rajan, because Dey allegedly fell out with him, the reporter's proximity with informers, and a blanket members-of-the-underworld theory.

For good measure, an eighth theory was set out: that Dey was working on a story about international bookies, which would have exposed the links between mafia, politicians, cricketers, bookies and businessmen. Vinod Chembur, a bookie who was known to be close to Dey was arrested after the other seven arrests on July 3.

The Chhota Rajan trail at the moment seems to have the strongest scent. "There was a fall out between Dey and Rajan," says Priti Gupta, a senior crime reporter of NewsX. "The police have a whiff of this, but it is also true that they don't have complete information." She adds, "It also can be attributed to one factor, that Dey was extremely secretive about his work, so no one except him knew what information he had. He also worked on multiple stories at, the same time."

The police have arrested seven people who work for Chhota Rajan gang and Rajan recently said that he had ordered the killing because Dey, writing for the tabloid Mid Day, featured him in a bad light. However, few buy this version. Many a seasoned journalist smells a rat, since the police have failed to show a credible motive.

"We have already travelled the road from the Mumbai Police initially claiming it was a Chhota Shakeel hit; then to insensitive leaks that personal reasons were involved in the killing; and now it is believed to be the handiwork of Chhota Rajan," said Gurbir Singh, president of the Press Club of Mumbai.

The whole murder and the arrests thereafter, are still one big jigsaw puzzle. The arrests don’t fill in the gaps, observers say. Confronted with the “confessions” made by the shooters that they were asked by their boss, Chhota Rajan, to carry out the killing, as they had “fallen apart”, Dey’s friends say they are not convinced. The killing doesn’t fit in the larger scheme of events, they say.

“Proximity is not the case -- we all know Chhota Rajan, and Dey knew him well, says Dey’s close friend Calvin Joshua, discounting the motive attributed to Chhota Rajan. “When a gangster is staying abroad, whether there is a negative or positive story, it won’t make a difference. He knew Dey, so how does killing Dey hurt him? What would be his financial loss? For a gangster it would be a murder of a reporter. That’s all.”

Was any line crossed? Did Dey get too close to any source? What went wrong? These questions may remain permanently unanswered. “The police and underworld don’t hit because someone was ticked off about a journalist,” says S. Balakrishnan, a senior Mumbai journalist. “It costs huge amounts of money, boys, tremendous planning. Also, the provocation must be grave or severe.”

The Mumbai Crime Branch has said they nabbed the assailants based on their cell tower location as they followed Dey on motorcycles, and yet questions arise as they say only one gun was found among the seven of them. “This is where the role of police comes in,” Balakrishnan says. “The ballistic evidence is very important, so why wasn’t that produced? The Commissioner’s press release has raised more questions rather than answering them.”

Dey’s friends say their claim that there is something big behind the murder stands vindicated. “It is a huge conspiracy,” Joshua says. “The number of people involved in this murder, the amount of money paid, plus it was Dey, not any ordinary reporter. Of course this involves consent at a high level.” Police need to lay all the facts on the table, journalists say, charging that the force’s silence on the motive and their numerous leaks have damaged Dey’s reputation. “The whole equation has changed, but the police’s attitude has not changed,” Balakrishnan says. “They must be able to anticipate events, changes in socio-economic demographics, maintain diaries, all of which is not happening. The gaps in the details are too evident.”