On June 11, Mumbai’s best known crime reporter Jyotirmoy Dey was shot dead. Five bullets were fired at close range. The shooting had all the signs of a mob hit.
It turns out that although it was indeed a mob hit, according to the Mumbai police, the killers had no idea about the man they were tasked to kill. They did what they were told, only to realize later, to their panic, that the man they murdered was a journalist.
IANS reports that Mumbai Police Joint Commissioner Himanshu Roy has identified the man who allegedly pulled the trigger as Satish Kalia, a professional hitman allegedly assigned by Chhota Rajan, one of the city’s most high profile mob bosses. Kalia was among the seven men arrested by the Mumbai police in a nationwide operation.
The most striking aspect of the killing is how devoid it was of any emotional investment. Although the killers did track Dey’s for several days before the assassination, for them he was no more than some person they were paid to kill. In all likelihood, they did not know or question whom they were being asked to eliminate and why. They could not care less about what it would do to Dey’s family and how permanently and brutally it would disrupt their lives.
“Zyada sochne ka nahi. Sochne se aadmi dheela padta hai” (Don’t’ think too much. Thinking makes one weak.) used to be the most important guiding principle of the underworld when I reported on it in the 1980s. I am not sure that has changed much.
It was only after they discovered that they had killed a journalist, did the seven go into a panic mode and split up. It is remarkable how quickly the Mumbai police tracked them down. They could not have done it without someone in the know spilling the beans.
