J Dey Assasination Case: CBI enquiry is not a prudent option.

The federation of journalists in Mumbai has urged a probe by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in veteran journalist J.Dey’s murder case.

Intending no offence to the sentiments & emotions of fellow journalists I wish to highlight that an enquiry by CBI in this case will not be prudent.

The demand for a CBI enquiry in Dey’s murder case seems to be a knee jerk decision & influenced by emotions. While, it is true that the incident was shocking to the whole journalist fraternity across the nation & led to an emotional response, I feel that the further strategy to nab the culprits & to secure a safe environment for journalists in Mumbai, emotions must not be allowed to dominate.

Being a crime reporter for over 13 years I have closely observed the functioning of various investigating agencies like Mumbai Police, Narcotics Control Bureau, Central Investigation Bureau, Enforcement Directorate & so on. My experience says that investigation of J.Dey’s murder by CBI will fetch no good & this is likely to become just another instance of red taped case. We should not demand CBI enquiry for the following reasons:

1)       CBI no longer holds its image of premier investigating agency of India having goofed up in so many high profile cases like Arushi murder case, Purulia arms drop case, Telgi case & so on. What merit CBI attracts to investigate J.Dey’s murder?

2)        CBI doesn’t have the required expertise to investigate cases of Mumbai underworld. Most of the investigators from CBI are inducted on deputation from various other agencies like Central Excise etc who don’t have any experience, network of sources & informants in the underworld. In the absence of these skills how can we expect them to reveal the truth & that also swiftly?

3)       Thirdly, CBI has already bitten more than it can chew. The investigating agency is heavily understaffed. As per a report the number of staffers in CBI are 25 % less than the required. In such a sordid scenario I don’t think it will be wise to handover the investigation to CBI. The case will just prolong with no credible results. Maharashtra is number 2 in the list of largest number of pending cases with CBI & Delhi holds the position of number 1.

4)       Mostly, the cases which have been referred to CBI are those in which some amount of investigation has been already done, chargesheets have been filed, few accused have been arrested etc. Such cases are referred to CBI only if the state police’ investigation is doubtful or not satisfactory.

Some of my friends may contest my views by asking that how can we rely on Mumbai Police when some of its officers are seen to be hand in glove with the underworld. The recent examples also enunciate that few corrupt police officials are targeting journalists by various means. Apart from the nexus with the underworld, there also seems to be an infight among the Mumbai cops & lack of co-ordination between various units is adding salt to the wounds. Yes, I observe & agree that the scenario is disgusting, but then also CBI doesn’t seem to be a better alternative. Then what is the better alternative? How could we find out, who killed our friend J.Dey? Who will nab the killers? My response to these questions is that we should wait & watch for sometime. If we are over pressurizing the police then they may come up with some cooked up story & show those people as accused who didn’t play any role in J.Dey’s assasination. (Remember they have done that earlier also…the serial train blast case of 2006) If cops are unable to crack the case in a reasonable time then we should approach the judiciary with a plea to set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) just like the one which investigated Telgi scam. We should urge the court to monitor the investigation & SIT should comprise of officers who have earned a name as good detectives & have a clean service record.