M A I N   N E W S

Make law to protect scribes: Hazare to PM
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 18
In the wake of the killing of crime reporter J Dey, Anna Hazare today shot off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh voicing concern over “growing attacks” on journalists and urged him to enact “stringent laws” to curb them. Hazare said, “Growing attacks on journalists, who are considered to be the fourth pillar of democracy, is a serious threat to India’s democratic structure.” “Stringent laws will need to be enacted as soon as possible to curb out such kind of heinous attacks,” he said in the letter.

Law Minister M Veerappa Moily has already said the government was planning to bring a central law to protect journalists. He said he had already directed the Legislative Department to prepare a draft bill to protect journalists and their properties, such as cameras.

Dey, editor (special investigations) at Mid Day, was shot dead on June 11 by four unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants. The killers are still at large. Dey was the third journalist in India to be killed in the past six months, according to a media watchdog. There have also been 14 attacks on the Indian media in the same period. In all cases, investigations are under way but no arrest has been made.

Indian Mujahideen behind Dey’s killing?

J Dey

MUMBAI: The police control room on Saturday received an anonymous phone call from Yemen with the caller saying Indian Mujahideen (IM) was behind the killing of crime reporter J Dey. “A person called from Yemen and said the IM hired shooters from Kashmir and bumped Dey off,” a senior Crime Branch official said. However, the police is verifying the call as the IM does not have a presence in Kashmir, the official said. The police control room received the call at around 5.30 pm. “We are taking all the information seriously given by anybody,” he added.

The official also said, “Now we have 9 CCTV images with us, using which we have reconstructed the event.” He also said they have received the telephone record of the period between 1.31 pm, when Dey left from his mother's place, and 2.45 pm, when he was shot dead. “This is a crucial time because now we will know who all had called Dey and with whom all he spoke to,” said the official. He said if the police get the minute details of those 75 minutes, they will be able to make a “major breakthrough” in the case. — PTI