J. Dey was working on a story concerning sandal wood smuggling. He was offered a bribe of one million rupees to spike his story which he rejected and that led to his murder, the sources added.

It is suspected that J. Dey was killed by sharp shooters belonging to notorious underworld don Chotta Shakeel's group, who is allegedly living in the Pakistani city of Karachi. Sources told Arab News that all the three suspects are police informers. However, police refused to confirm or deny the report.

Journalists in Mumbai have gone on hunger strike at the Azad Maidan near the state government secretariat Wednesday morning to press the state government to hand over the J. Dey murder case to the Central Bureau of Investigation and to enact a law for the protection of journalists.

J. Dey was shot dead on Saturday by four unidentified persons on a motorbike prompting strong reaction from the journalists. They took out a peaceful rally on Monday protesting the murder and demanding law for the protection of journalists. The journalists decided to resort to hunger strike after Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan turned down the demands put by the Journalists Action Committee.