Thaindian News

Mumbai, July 26 (IANS) A day after seeking a probe into Mumbai journalist Jyotirmoy Dey’s killing, an opposition leader in Maharashtra Thursday demanded a CBI probe into the sensational 2011 murder.

Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council Vinod Tawade of the Bharatiya Janata Party sought a CBI probe claiming that just before his murder Dey, 56, was planning to expose an alleged betting and match-fixing racket linked to Indian Premier League cricket matches.

“The government should hand over the probe to the CBI if it is sincere and wants the truth to come out,” Tawade told reporters here Thursday.

He said that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe would reveal the motive behind Dey’s killing, the people involved in it and related issues.

Dey was the editor (special investigations) of Mumbai tabloid Mid-Day when he was gunned down June 11, 2011 near his residence by motorcycle-borne assailants.

Tawade Wednesday said in the council that a woman journalist Jigna Vora was arrested in the case as a diversionary tactic to combat the growing media pressure.

Working as a deputy bureau chief with a Mumbai daily, Vora was arrested Nov 25 last year. Police said her professional rivalry with Dey could have claimed his life.

According to Tawade, the media had been building pressure on police and the government to solve Dey’s murder and Vora’s arrest was intended to divide the media fraternity.

So far, police have investigated the alleged role of around a dozen people, including Vora, for their role in Dey’s sensational killing which shocked Mumbaikars and the entire country’s media fraternity.

They have been charged under various stringent provisions of the law, including the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act.