New Delhi: The Bihar Police is probing the high-profile murder case of Patna-based businessman Gopal Khemka from all angles including any potential family or business rivalry, police officials have confirmed to ThePrint, while indicating it could be a case of contract killing.
Additionally, senior police officials said they are exploring if this is in any way linked to the December 2018 murder of his son Gunjan Khemka.
Gopal Khemka (64), the owner of the Magadh Hospital in Patna, was shot dead from close range by a bike-borne assailant outside his residence Friday night, less than a kilometre from the Gandhi Maidan police station.
The footage captured in the CCTV camera installed outside his residence suggests the killer was waiting for him at the gate. Around 11:38 pm, when Khemka arrived at the main gate of his residence, the assailant opened fire at him while the businessman was still in his car. The attacker then fled the scene.
“Prima facie, this looks like a clear case of contract killing where every move of the target was mapped, and the attacker was waiting outside his residence for the perfect opportunity. We shall probe it from all angles, from business or family rivalry as well as any linkage to the past murder in the family,” a senior Bihar Police officer told ThePrint, requesting anonymity as the probe is at a nascent stage.
Coming as it does just months before assembly elections in the state, the sensational murder has sparked widespread criticism of the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government over law and order, even more so in the capital city of Patna.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said Nitish Kumar and the BJP have combined to make Bihar the “crime capital of India”.
पटना में व्यवसायी गोपाल खेमका की सरेआम गोली मारकर हत्या ने एक बार फिर साबित कर दिया है – भाजपा और नीतीश कुमार ने मिलकर बिहार को “भारत की क्राइम कैपिटल” बना दिया है।
आज बिहार लूट, गोली और हत्या के साए में जी रहा है। अपराध यहां ‘नया नॉर्मल’ बन चुका है – और सरकार पूरी तरह नाकाम।…
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 6, 2025
Khemka’s son Gunjan too was shot by a bike-borne assailant who attacked him outside his cotton processing plant in Hajipur.
Recce & repetition of 2018
Around seven-and-a-half years ago, Khemka had complained to the Vaishali district police that his son Gunjan was shot from a close range near his firm G K Cotton in the industrial area of the neighbouring Hajipur town. A man wearing a helmet and gloves shot at Gunjan from outside his car. The businessman was declared dead on arrival by the hospital.
The Vaishali district police arrested four suspects, and filed a chargesheet after investigation, with senior officials saying a land deal was the reason behind the murder. They said Khemka wanted to sell a prime land parcel in Hajipur after his planned project failed to take off.
Bihar Police officials said the Khemkas and their partners intended to set up a biscuit factory on the land. However, as the project stalled, it fell under the target of a land-grabbing syndicate and local anti-social elements.
The Vaishali Police had in April 2019 charged Patna-residents Abhishek Kumar alias Mastu and Rahul Anand alias Chinku, alongside Arun Kumar Singh alias Arun Choudhary and his son Anand Kumar alias Anand Choudhary with the murder. Mastu and Chinku were given bail in May 2019 by the Patna High Court while Choudharys secured bail from the same court in July that year.
“All accused had a long criminal history, and they conspired to remove Khemka from this land as he wanted to sell the land to someone else,” a Bihar Police officer told ThePrint Saturday. Mastu, a notorious criminal from Patna, was shot dead in 2021 in a case of inter-gang rivalry.
Family members have alleged the real culprits of the 2018 murder of Gunjan were never brought to justice.
Senior officials conceded that angles around family rivalry had come to the fore during the investigation but there was a lack of concrete evidence.
Gaurav Khemka, Gopal Khemka’s only son now, says his father’s murder is a “repetition” of the December 2018 killing.
‘Good man’
Gopal Khemka, the director of nine firms including G K Cotton, was a member of the Bankipore Club in Patna and was a daily visitor after office hours. On Friday, he dropped off his friend Sudesh Sarin outside his home while returning from the club.
Sarin said he had known Khemka for around three decades and that he was not aware of any dispute the businessman had with anyone.
“I was with him in the same vehicle. We were returning from the Bankipore Club. He dropped me off at the Exhibition Road corner, just metres away. It could have been me as well if they had attacked before. Around midnight, I got a call from another friend who said Gopal was shot dead,” Sarin told ThePrint.
“He never discussed anything. No threats or disputes of any kind. He was a good man. His son was shot dead in a similar manner outside their factory in Hajipur. Gopal and his family are respected people,” he further said.
In a complaint to the Gandhi Maidan police station, Gaurav Khemka alleged the local police had a delayed response. He said he had to carry his blood-soaked father to a private hospital in the other part of the city.
Even after the police station in the area of the hospital informed the Gandhi Maidan police station, no one turned up at the hospital, and he had to take his father’s body from the hospital to his house, the son alleged.
Around 02:00 am, he further documented, the Patna Central superintendent of police came to their residence, suggesting the body could be handed over to the family only after the postmortem.
Based on the complaint, the Patna Police Saturday registered a case under section 103 (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and section 27 (misuse of fire arms) of the Arms Act.
BJP links, Oppn attacks Nitish
While Gopal Khemka has been known in the political and bureaucratic circles to be a businessman strongly linked to the BJP, leaders in the Bihar unit of the party said he did not hold any official position. However, his slain son was a co-convener of the party’s micro-industries cell.
“He (Gopal Khemka) had always been a sympathiser of the party and has had great terms with leaders. But he was never an office-bearer,” a Bihar BJP functionary told ThePrint.
Leaders from opposition parties also made a beeline outside his residence to meet the family. They attacked the Nitish Kumar government over what they claimed was deteriorating law and order in the state.
Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav visited Khemka’s residence Saturday afternoon and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should ask Nitish Kumar about these crimes before raking up the alleged “jungle raj” in the state when the RJD was in power between 1990 and 2005.
“This kind of incident happened in the heart of the city where the DM and SP reside, and the police station is just about 200 yards away. The murder was committed by shooting in front of their house. This makes it clear that the government’s credibility has eroded in Bihar and criminals are receiving protection from the authorities. Family members believe the government is not disclosing any information about the action being taken. Crime and criminals are dominating the state. This situation shows what kind of rule Bihar is under,” Yadav told reporters.
Even an MP from the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), a constituent of the ruling NDA, questioned law and order in the state and said if the business community does not feel safe in the state, there will be no improvement in the state of industries.
“We talk a lot about development and industries in the state, but if the business community is not safe in the state, will it be possible to have flourishing sectors and jobs in the state? The way Gopal Khemka was murdered last night, brazenly in an upscale area of Bihar, shows that criminals have no fear of the administration and that law and order has crumbled in Bihar,” Khagaria MP Rajesh Verma said in a video statement Saturday.
Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Vijay Kumar Sinha admitted to lapses on the part of police and assured strict action against officers found negligent
“The incident occurred just a few metres away from the police station. Where was the Patna Police’s patrolling team? This is a serious incident, and officers found guilty of negligence will face action. We will recommend to the government the removal of such officers. The state government cannot ignore this negligence,” Sinha told reporters.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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