The National Investigation Agency on Wednesday arrested a key suspect in the murder of Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena chief Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi.
Gogamedi was shot dead by three men at his home in Jaipur on December 5 last year. One of the assailants, Naveen Singh Shekhawat, was also killed in retaliatory firing by Gogamedi’s bodyguard.
The Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena represents Rajput interests and is different from the Rajput Karni Sena that had led violent protests against the Hindi movie Padmaavat in 2018.
On Wednesday, the National Investigation Agency said that it recovered a large number of pistols, ammunition and digital devices during raids at 31 locations in Haryana and Rajasthan.
“A key suspect, Ashok Kumar, was arrested from one of the locations following the recovery of several arms and ammunition from his premises in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan,” it said. “His questioning exposed his suspicious role in the case and also revealed his association with the notorious gangster Rohit Godara.”
Godara, a member of the gang headed by jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, had claimed responsibility for Gogamedi’s killing.
According to the agency, he allegedly motivated two shooters to murder the Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena chief. It also stated that sustained interrogation of the arrested accused and suspects revealed the “involvement of hardcore criminals and members of organised criminal gangs, based out of Haryana and Rajasthan in the murder”.
So far, nine people have been arrested in the case.
On December 9, the Rajasthan Police arrested two alleged shooters – Rohit Rathore and Nitin Fauji – as well as their associate – Udham Singh in Chandigarh. The police also arrested another man identified as Ramveer Jat in Jaipur for allegedly helping the shooters flee the spot on his bike.
The case was handed over to the National Investigation Agency on December 11.
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