Police say Rajan had Dey killed

Dey was due to travel to the Philippines this month on an official trip,and was apparently trying to set up a meeting with Rajan during the trip. However,Rajan suspected that this information was likely to be leaked,and ordered the hit,the sources said,citing the interrogation of one of the seven arrested men.

The Crime Branch said Dey was gunned down by Rohee Thangappan Joseph alias Satish Kalia 34,a resident of Golibar area in Khar East and a known shooter of the Rajan gang.

Rajan organised the weapons and the money given to the accused,the police said.

They identified the other accused as Anil Wagmode 35 from Andheri West; Nilesh Shendge alias Bablu 34 and Abhijit Shinde 28 from Sion; Amin Dake 27 and Sachin Gaikwad 27 from Chembur; and Mangesh Aagawne 25 from Jogeshwari West.

All the men were produced at the Esplanade Court this morning and remanded in police custody until July 4.

Kalia,Wagmode and Shinde were arrested in Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu,Shendge in Solapur,and the others from Dharavi in Mumbai. The police have recovered a sophisticated .32 bore US-made revolver that was allegedly used in the crime,20 live and five empty .32 long Czech cartridges,three motorcycles and a Toyota Qualis used in the crime,10 mobile phones,and cash totalling Rs 20,000.

Asked about the motive,Joint Commissioner of Police Crime Himanshu Roy said,At this stage,all we can say is that Kalia is a known shooter of the Rajan gang and he,along with Wagmode,have police dossiers. We will go deeper into the matter,as the accused were produced in court only today. Give us some more time,and we will also reveal the motive.

Kalia,the main shooter involved and the man who organised the murder,is a known shooter of the Rajan gang with cases of three murders and an attempt to commit murder registered against him. According to the accused,around 20 days prior to the murder,Kalia got a call from Rajan,who told him that a job had to be done. Rajan told Kalia he would arrange for the weapons and money for the job, Roy said.

Kalia was given a date and a location,and accordingly he picked up Rs 2 lakh from Chembur. He then went to Kathgodam in Nainital district and collected the revolver used. On his return to Mumbai,Kalia contacted his old associate Wagmode,who is also a known shooter of the Rajan gang. Wagmode was told to form a team for the job, said Roy.

Wagmode allegedly roped in the other accused,all of whom,except Aagawne,have criminal records.

At this stage,Roy said,none of the accused knew who their target was. Around June 6,Kalia again received a call from Rajan who gave him the description of the target and the number of his motorcycle. Kalia was informed that the target could be found at two places,Peninsula Centre in Parel where the Mid-Day office,where Dey worked,is and in the Hirananadani area of Powai where Dey lived.

According to the police,Wagmode went to scout Peninsula Centre at around 1 pm on June 7. Around an hour later,Dey arrived on his motorcycle. Wagmode identified him from his description provided by Rajan,and from the number of his bike.

The next day,Kalia and Wagmode went back to the same location and re-confirmed they had found their target. They thought about shooting him there itself,but decided against it as Parel is a crowded area making an escape difficult. They then decided to carry out the murder in the Hiranandani area. All seven accused three pairs on motorcycles and one in a Qualis which kept a little distance behind as an emergency vehicle roamed around the area on June 9 and 10,but could not spot their target.

At around 1.30 pm on June 11,one of the teams on a motorcycle spotted Deys motorcycle near Hiranandani Hospital and alerted the other accused, Roy said.

Dey had gone inside a shop,apparently to photocopy some documents. After he came out,the accused followed him to a courier agency near the IIT main gate. When he left,they followed him again.

Finally,when Dey took a turn near Crisil House in front of Spectra Building,Kalia told his rider to speed up. When they gained on Dey,Kalia fired five bullets at Dey from behind. One of the bullets pierced Deys heart,leading to his death, Roy said.

Following the murder,all seven accused decided to spend the night at Aagawnes residence in Jogeshwari. However,when they switched on the television there and saw that the man they had murdered was a journalist,they knew something extraordinary had taken place. Kalia called Rajan and told him that they had not been informed that the target was a journalist,and the heat on them would now be immense.

Rajan told him not to worry,and said he would pay them more for the job. He instructed Kalia that the accused should leave Mumbai. Following this,Kalia picked up another Rs 3 lakh from a location in Nalasopara, said Roy.

According to the police,the next morning,everyone except Gaikwad and Aagawne left Mumbai. They kept travelling,going to several pilgrimage centres. They went to Pawagadh in Gujarat,then to Shirdi,then Akkalkot in Maharashtra,Yadgir in Karnataka,and then to Solapur,where Shendge left the group.

The others went on to Bijapur,where Dake split and returned to Mumbai. Kalia,Wagmode and Shinde went on to Sangli,Bangalore,Madurai and,finally,Rameswaram. They were planning to head to Tirupati when they were arrested.