Police hunt for clues in Deys trip to Europe

Sources have said that Dey was to visit the Philippines later this month,and was trying to set up a meeting with Rajan during the trip. However,Rajan is believed to have suspected that Dey may leak information on his location,and had ordered him killed.

Between May 28 and June 5,Dey visited Scotland,London and Germany. The Crime Branch believes that something happened during that trip which led to his murder. The police on Tuesday sent summons to Raj Travels,the company that operated the tour,so that the tour guide involved could give details of the journalists movements while on the trip.

We have issued summons to Raj Travels under Section 160 of the CrPC today. We intend to ask the guide who was travelling with Dey for details about his movements. Something must have happened during his trip to Europe,and we are going deeply into this angle, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Himanshu Roy said.

Dey returned to the city on June 5,and the very next day Rajan called up the shooter Satish Kalia and provided him with Deys description and his motorcycle number with orders to shoot him dead, Roy added.

The police are also looking closely at the details of Deys planned official trip to the Philippines this month.

The Crime Branch has found from Deys e-mails that he was in touch with an official at the Philippines Tourism office in Delhi for processing his travel documents.

The reason must have been extremely important for Rajan to use two of his most trusted aides and run the risk of them being caught, Roy said. He added that Kalia had been practising his sharp-shooting in deserted areas since being released from jail some years ago.

With Rajans involvement having been established,Roy said,the police could revisit Deys e-mail communication,his personal diaries and his notes in a more focused manner,eliminating several other theories that were being examined earlier.

Something drastic took place… the instigation must have been really drastic for Rajan to order the murder of a journalist like Dey. He (Rajan) might have feared for his security, another senior Crime Branch officer said.

In order to build a watertight case and to establish the conduct of the accused after the crime was committed,the Crime Branch is planning to visit the locations that the seven accused travelled to while on the run.

We will gather corroborative evidence from all the places they visited,such as witnesses who will prove they had seen the accused there,or CCTV camera footage,if found at some locations, Roy said.

Five of the seven arrested fled the city on June 12,travelling to several places in Gujarat,Maharashtra and Karnataka,before three of them were arrested in Rameswaram.