Indian journalist involved in gangland murder held

A female journalist working for a leading Indian newspaper has been arrested in connection with the gangland murder of a Mumbai crime reporter, police said Friday.Jigna Vora, a journalist with the Asian Age, was remanded in police custody until December 1 on suspicion of conspiracy and aiding and abetting the killers of Jyotirmoy Dey.Dey, who was investigations editor at the Mid-day daily tabloid, was gunned down in a daylight drive-by shooting in a northern suburb of the city in June.He had written extensively on gangland activities and police believe he was killed on the orders of underworld crime boss Chhota Rajan.Seven people were arrested soon after the murder, which sparked protests by journalists calling for greater protection from the state government.One of the men arrested is known to work for Rajan, who was once the right-hand man of Mumbai crime kingpin Dawood Ibrahim, suspected of being behind bomb blasts in the city that killed more than 250 people in 1993.This is a very important case, not just because a journalist was murdered but because it has a very high underworld linkage, Mumbai police commissioner Arup Patnaik told a news conference.Indian media said that Vora is alleged to have passed on details of Deys home address and motorcycle registration number to his killers, that and police had details of conversations between Vora and underworld figures.Deys newspaper said at the time of his death, at the age of 56, that he was a victim of his fearless journalism.Husain Zaidi, editor of the Asian Age, told reporters that Vora was a reporter of honesty and integrity.The truth will come out. Her innocence will be proved, he said.