The murder of Slovakian journalist Jan Kuciak and his partner Martina Kusnirova may be linked to the Italian mafia, the police suspect. His final, unfinished article, which had the headline “Italian mafia in Slovakia; its tentacles reach as far as politics”, alleged ties between the Italian mafia and people close to Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, the BBC reported.

Kuciak and Kusnirova were found shot dead in their house in Velka Maca, east of Capital city Bratislava, on Sunday. In his article, Kuciak alleged that Italian businessmen with links to the Calabria-based crime syndicate “Ndrangheta” had settled in eastern Slovakia and spent years embezzling European Union funds, routing the money across the border with Ukraine. These men have links with senior officials, including people close to the prime minister, Kuciak had alleged in his article.

Two of those people named stepped down from their posts on Wednesday till the investigations are complete. They are former model Maria Troskova, who was Prime Minister Fico’s chief state adviser, and Troskova’s former boss Viliam Jasan, the secretary of Slovakia’s National Security Council. Minister of Culture Marek Madaric, a member of Fico’s SMER party, also resigned, saying it was his only choice in the wake of the murders.

Prime Minister Fico on Monday offered a reward of €1 million (Rs 7.94 crore) for information on Kuciak’s murderers. “If it is proved that the motive of the murder was the work of a journalist, it will be an event that is unmatched in the modern history of Slovakia, and it is an attack on democracy, freedom of the press and freedom of the media,” he had said.