Assistant Commissioner of police Anil Mahabole, who could be questioned in connection with the murder of veteran journalist J Dey, was transferred on Monday.

Anil Mahabole, who was in-charge of Azad Maidan division in south Mumbai, has been shunted to local arms control room in suburban Naigaon.

According to sources, Dey was working on a story on Mahabole's links with the underworld and had sought Commissioner of Police Arup Patnaik's comment.

"Mahabole has a number of pending inquiries against him and we wanted a free and fair probe against him. That's why he has been transferred," an IPS officer said on condition of anonymity. He, however, did not elaborate on the nature of inquiries pending against the ACP.

Earlier in the day, a senior police officer said, if required, Mahabole, against whom Dey had written some stories, may be questioned.

With inputs from PTI