Journalist killing: Maha Congress delegation meets Chavan

Mumbai, Jun 13: A delegation of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) today (June 13) called on Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and urged him to take urgent and appropriate steps to tackle the growing incidence of attacks on media persons in the state.

The delegation, which was led by MPCC chief Manikrao Thakre, met the CM at his official residence ''Varsha'' here in the backdrop of senior investigative journalist Jyotirmoy Dey's murder in suburban Powai.

MPCC General Secretary Sanjay Dutt said the party has expressed concern over the attack on media men and has demanded "urgent and appropriate steps to curb such incidents".

At noon, the Journalists Association will hold a protest rally from the Press Club to the State Secretariat to condemn Dey's killing and mount pressure on the government to expedite the probe in the case at the earliest and nab the culprits, ahead of meeting Chavan.

The Association has also demanded the resignation of Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil and suspension of Mumbai police chief Arup Patnaik, owning moral responsibility for the incident.

The CM held an emergency meeting at his residence yesterday and took stock of the investigations into the case.

"Till now we have not got strong evidence. The Home Ministry and the police department are carrying out investigations. We are expecting to get leads soon. This is a very serious and heinous crime, and we will get to the bottom of it," Chavan had said.

Dey (56), who was working as an investigative editor with Mid-Day, was shot dead by unidentified assailants on Saturday.

PTI