DIG: J Dey hitmen was not held at Ramnad

Jun 28, 2011

RAMANATHAPURAM/MADURAI: Hours after the Mumbai police claimed that three sharpshooters involved in the recent murder of journalist Jyotirmoy Dey in Mumbai were arrested in Ramnad, a top police officer in Ramanathapuram described it as bunkum.

When contacted by Express, Deputy Inspector General of Police Sandeep Mittal said nobody was arrested in connection with the case from any part of Ramanathapuram district, including Rameswaram.
He, however, agreed that a special police team from Mumbai had indeed visited the district.

His version did not square off with that of another top police official, this one based in Madurai.

He asserted that a Maharashtra police team had come to Rameswaram and picked up three persons for interrogation.

According to sources, the three hitmen first reached Bangalore from Mumbai in a car and offered prayers at a shrine. They then drove further South in a Qualis and visited various other temples, including Meenakshi Amman temple at Madurai and Lord Ramanathaswamy temple in Rameswaram.

The Mumbai special team tracked them through cellphone towers and sought the assistance of the district police when the Qualis entered Ramnad district.

The car was said to be intercepted at Pamban area by the Mumbai special team when the trio was returning after offering prayers at Rameswaram temple. The local police and State intelligence personnel were completely kept out off the loop about the detention.

J Dey was shot dead by four unidentified motorcycle borne assailants in Powai, Mumbai on June 11.

For their part, the Mumbai police identified the trio as Rohit Thangappan alias Satish Kalya (the man who gunned down J Dey), Waghmode and Shinde. They were picked up from Rameswaram on Saturday and placed under arrest on Sunday in Mumbai, the police said.