Punjabi was gunned down by two assailants outside his Mahesh Tower residence, Andheri, on September 11. He had reportedly been receiving threats from the Arun Gawli gang, and according to statements of his family members, the caller addressed Punjabi in an offensive manner, identifying himself as ``Dilip.'' Police claim the caller could be Bandya Adivalekar, a top Gawli aide.

While working on the cable war angle, police had summoned rival cable owners, including officials of the United Cable Network (UCN), Spacevision and Siticable, for questioning. But all police could establish was that Punjabi was working on a mega-project which would have virtually wiped out his rivals.

Without ruling out that the killing may have been the result of extortion demands or a cable war, police are nowlooking for a Judas in Punjabi's organisation.

In the last fortnight, police questioned three of In CableNet's directors, Jagdish Singh Kohli, Yogesh Radhakrishnan and Yogesh Shah, at times separately, about the possible motive behind the killing. Though initially hesitant to open up, the directors later gave statements which have now been found to have numerous discrepancies, a senior police officer said.

The discrepancies and inconsistencies, though not clinching, still complicate the investigation process, a police officer pointed out. Police have also shortlisted several suspects, but not revealed any names.

Punjabi's success in the project he was working on would not only have sealed the fate of his competitors, but would also have given tremendous boost to his already growing clout. The killing was executed to scuttle his growth, police suspect.

``Any wrong move on our part can make the suspects seek cover behind anticipatory bail,'' a senior crime branch officer said.

When asked about theprogress of investigations, joint commissioner of police (crime), D Sivanandhan, said: ``We are examining several angles, and many possibilities have emerged.''

However, Hima Mehta, In CableNet's vice-president, corporate communications, said it was ``impossible'' that any member of the organisation could be involved in the killing.

Another top-level representative of In CableNet said the network is witnessing a major game of oneupmanship and power struggle. Kohli is tipped to be the managing director, while the other two directors will be given slots of his deputies, he added.

According to him, this is seriously resented by the top brass from other subsidiaries of the Hindujas, which include the film-based channel of Cable Video Opera (CVO) and IndusInd Media and Communications Limited. But such a power contest was ruled out by Hima Mehta. ``It is all malicious,'' she claimed.