Home Minister R R Patil said three people were arrested from Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, one from Solapur and three from Mumbai. He said, all the seven hail from Maharashtra. Patil told media that the Mumbai police commissioner and joint commissioner of police had informed him about the arrests.
He said he have announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for the Mumbai Crime Branch team for exemplary work they have done in the case. A police source said that an underworld link surfacing in the incident is being verified.
The arrested were produced before a local court here and were remanded in police custody till the 4th of July. Police sources said, among the seven, a few of them were sharp shooters hired by the mastermind of the crime.
Various journalists’ associations have been demanding a CBI probe, but the Maharashtra government has ruled out such a probe.
The Bombay High Court had recently directed the police to file a report by July 6th July on the progress investigations into Dey’s murder.
Meanwhile Mumbai police sources said that the Chhota Rajan gang was behind Dey’s murder and the suspects were nabbed from across India.
J Dey, working with the city-based English tabloid Mid Day, was shot dead by four motorcycle-borne assailants in suburban Powai on the June 11.