J Dey murder: We barked up the wrong tree,admit police

Police concede that they need to establish why the detained men had admitted to the crime.

The Mumbai Police admitted on Thursday that the two men detained on Wednesday were not involved in the murder of journalist J Dey. Investigators,who had claimed on Wednesday to be close to a breakthrough,conceded that they needed to conduct a reverse investigation to establish why the men had admitted to the crime.

Anwar Shaikh,who was held in Mumbai and Mateen alias Iqbal Hakela who was picked up from Mumbra,had allegedly confessed to their involvement in the murder in Powai on Saturday. The two men will continue to be questioned,sources in the police said.

With investigations seemingly headed nowhere five days after the killing,the Bombay High Court on Thursday gave the state government and the police time till June 21 to file a status report on the probe.

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Advocate V P Patil and former journalist Ketan Tirodkar on Thursday sought a CBI inquiry into the matter. Justices Ranjana Desai and R V More allowed two intervention applications filed by the Press Club,Mumbai,and the Marathi Patrakar Parishad, demanding an investigation by the Central agency.

Public prosecutor Pandurang Pol said the Mumbai Police and Crime Branch were moving in the right direction and that there was no need to transfer the probe to the CBI yet.

The interveners argued that since Dey was widely believed to have been investigating the alleged nexus between the underworld,police and oil mafia,it would be in the larger interest of the public,and the journalistic community in particular,that this case be investigated by the CBI.

Commissioner of Police Arup Patnaik said he wouldnt say the case was complicated,but unfortunately,there are many loose ends that needs to be tied. We are treading cautiously.

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The statement came following reports of the alleged involvement of gangster Chhota Shakeel.

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