The International
Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is shocked and outraged at the daylight murder
of Jyotirmoy Dey, senior journalist and special investigations editor with the
afternoon daily Midday, in the western Indian city of Mumbai.
Dey was shot dead on the afternoon
of June 11 as he drove home on his motorcycle in the Powai suburb of Mumbai. He
was reportedly trailed by four men on two motorcycles who fired a total of
eight shots. Dey suffered serious injuries to his head and chest and is
believed to have died on the spot.
“The IFJ urges the authorities in
Mumbai to take note of the worldwide sense of shock at this murder and to
deliver on their promise to bring those responsible to book without any undue
delay,” IFJ Asia-Pacific Director
Jacqueline Park said.
“We extend our deepest condolences
to Dey’s family and his professional colleagues in this moment of dire loss.”
Dey was a veteran of the crime beat
in Mumbai and recently published several exclusive reports that may have earned
the ire of powerful organised crime syndicates.
On May 19, Midday published a
report under Dey’s byline on a shooting incident in which the brother of a
fugitive underworld don was targeted. The incident may have been the outcome of
deepening rivalries between competing crime syndicates.
A few days earlier, Dey had
published an investigative report on illicit trade in diesel fuel, allegedly
worth more than USD 2000 million, and allegedly carried out by an organised
ring with connections to the shipping industry.
“The IFJ is told that any of these reports
could have provoked Dey’s murder, both as an act of revenge and as a warning to
other journalists,” Park said.
“Unless there is a radical departure
from the pattern of impunity that prevails for attacks on journalists in India,
this incident will have a chilling effect on good investigative journalism
carried out in the public interest.”
For further
information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific
on +91-9810518009
The IFJ
represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131 countries
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