New Delhi: Gangster Rohit Godara offered the two alleged shooters an advance of Rs 50,000, guns and a chance to escape abroad if they killed Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena chief Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi, ThePrint has learnt.
The two accused, identified as Nitin ‘fauji’ and Rohit Rathore, communicated with Godara via Signal and Telegram apps and were assured of passports, travel and accommodation after the murder, Delhi Police sources said.
“Rohit Godara assigned them the task and provided them with the weapons. Rs 50,000 was their advance. More people are involved in this conspiracy,” said one officer from Delhi who did not wish to be named.
A police officer from Rajasthan said the exact motive and the chronology of events will become clearer after further interrogation.
“So far during questioning, Rathore has said he had a personal rivalry against Gogamedi because he had interfered in his POCSO case and did not let a settlement take place. Rathore has claimed that the minor was his friend and blames Gogamedi for him landing in jail. That woman is now his friend and is still in touch with him,” he added.
The officer from Rajasthan added that the conspiracy for the murder was hatched in October.
While Rohit Godara, a gangster with suspected ties to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, had in a post on Facebook claimed responsibility for the shooting, police officials had maintained until now that any such claims can only be verified after the shooters are apprehended and interrogated.
The two alleged shooters, along with their associate Uddham Singh, were arrested by a joint team of the Delhi Police Crime Branch and Rajasthan Police from a hotel in Chandigarh’s Sector 22 on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday.
ACP Umesh Barthwal led the Delhi Police Crime Branch team under the supervision of DCP (Crime Branch) Amit Goel.
Delhi Police sources said the killing was likely linked to a rivalry between Godara and Gogamedi over “protection” money the gangster had demanded from a property dealer in Churu. Another criminal and Godara’s aide, Dana Ram, who has a reward of Rs 50,000 on his head, was also part of the conspiracy, sources added.
Rathore, who has three cases against him, including one under the Arms Act and another under the POCSO Act, had come in contact with Godara through another wanted criminal Virender Chahan, who supplied them with weapons through another aide.
“Chahan and Rathore came in touch when they were lodged in jail together in 2018. Chahan put Rathore in touch with Godara,” a second police officer from Delhi told ThePrint.
Chahan is an absconding criminal with a police reward of Rs 1 lakh to his name.
Gogamedi, the Karni Sena faction chief, was shot at his house in Jaipur’s Shyam Nagar area Tuesday. The shooters entered the house with the help of a garment businessman, Naveen Shekhawat, who also fell to their bullets, as ThePrint reported earlier.
Nitin ‘fauji’, who was earlier booked for firing at policemen in Mahendragarh last November, joined Godara’s gang six to eight months ago. “Dana Ram brought Rohit Rathore and Nitin ‘fauji’ together and gave them logistical support,” said the second police officer from Delhi.
He added, “These guys are new recruits that gangsters and gangs lure with hard cash and promises.”
Manhunt for Nitin & Rathore
Nitin and Rathore, it is learnt, decided to change their plans when they were on their way to Mandi in Himachal Pradesh after seeing their names and pictures in the media and learning that police teams had reached Mandi.
According to the Rajasthan Police, the shooters killed one Hemraj and fled to Ajmer on a two-wheeler after the murder. They met one Ramveer Jatt there, who dropped them at the Bagru toll plaza, from where they boarded a Nagaur-bound Rajasthan Roadways bus.
Jatt was arrested by the Rajasthan Police, Saturday.
Another cab driver from Didwana, who was detained, told the police that the duo took a Delhi-bound bus from Sujangarh in Churu, Tuesday night. However, the shooters got off at Dharuhera in Haryana and reached Hisar. They then planned to move to Mandi but stayed back in Chandigarh instead, from where they were arrested.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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