City police probing the killing of senior journalist Jyotirmoy Dey on Sunday said that the reporter might have had met underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's key aide Iqbal Mirchi in April in London.
After the reporter's murder, police initially had parried questions whether Dey had met Iqbal Memon alias Iqbal Mirchi in London during his visit there. The police did not even confirm Memon's presence in London.
However, with the recent arrest of Iqbal Mirchi in London, the investigators would now try to find out if the slain reporter had come in contact with Memon during his trip to Europe in April, police said.
"Our probe indicates that Dey might have met Memon in London during his visit in April. Chhota Rajan thought that Dey had provided some information about him to Dawood's aide Memon and ordered his killing," an IPS official told the media.
Memon's extradition would not only throw more light on the journalist's murder case but also other activities of Dawood in foreign countries, the crime branch official added.
Dey (56), working with the city-based English tabloid Mid Day, was shot dead by four motorcycle-borne assailants in suburban Powai on June 11.
Police have arrested ten members of the Rajan gang including builder Vinod Asrani and have booked them under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act.