3 suspects arrested for murder of senior journalist in Gujarat

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat police, on Wednesday, arrested three people in connection with the murder of senior journalist Kishore Dave who was found stabbed at a newspaper office in Junagadh district of Saurashtra region on Monday.

The arrested people have been identified as Firoz Kasambhai Hala, Sanjay Rama Rathod and Arif Alam Saiyed.

"From investigation, it was revealed that Dave was a partner in transport business with the accused, and was murdered due to disputes arising out of payment of money," Junagadh B-division police inspector M. M. Makwana said.

Kishore Dave, 53, was involved in transport business along with the three accused since about last five years, Makwana said. "They had purchased a mini bus and Dave had to make payment in that connection, and was murdered after he failed to make the payment," he added.

Dave, the bureau chief of Gujarati daily 'Jai Hind-Sanjh Samachar', published from Rajkot, was stabbed repeatedly to death by sharp weapons at the newspaper's office in Vanjari chowk area of Junagadh on Monday around 9 pm when he was writing a story.

Dave was alone in the office when he was attacked. His body was discovered by an office assistant later.

Separate teams of local police, local crime branch, and special operations group were formed to crack the case. They took the help of a CCTV camera footage in which the murderers were apparently seen riding two motorcycles towards Dave's office, which assisted in solving the case, police said.

According to reports, Dave’s relatives have alleged that the son of a local politician is responsible for his murder.

Dave had reported on a case of alleged sexual harassment against the politician's son about a year ago and the journalist had been granted bail after a cyber crime case was filed against him, the family said.