New Delhi: The Delhi Police has arrested the “key conspirator” behind the 24 February attack on gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s lawyer in Delhi, days after the accused tried to flee to Dubai via Bangkok but was turned back from the airport as Thai authorities “found him suspicious”.
Suspected key conspirator Rohit Solanki (26), a former delivery agent who worked for gangster Rohit Godara, was arrested from a village in Delhi Monday night, the police said Tuesday, adding his friend Sagar Malik, who allegedly arranged the logistics, has also been nabbed.
Police said lawyer Deepak Khatri was targeted at the behest of gangster Rohit Godara and his ally Goldy Brar after the rivalry between the Godara and Bishnoi gangs intensified following the killing of Sukhdeep alias Sippa in Dubai in November 2025. Sippa was Bishnoi’s main financier.
Inderpreet alias Parry, a gang member of Godara, was shot dead in a retaliatory attack in Chandigarh In December 2025.
The 24 February attack on Khatri was ostensibly a retaliation to this killing. He was targeted when he and his friends visited the Marghat Wale Temple, Kashmere Gate.
While returning from the temple, they heard gunshots as their car reached near the Rain Basera at the Ring Road around 10:05 pm. Khatri’s friend Sandeep sustained gunshot injuries. Khatri saw two-three men chasing them on a two wheeler.
‘Attempt to murder’
A case was registered under Sections 109(1) (attempt to murder) and 3(5) (joint criminal liability) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant provisions of the Arms Act, and police began the probe.
Police said they scanned approximately 300 CCTV cameras. “We spotted suspicious individuals who were seen roaming near the temple before the incident. Since it was Tuesday and there was heavy crowding at the temple, identifying the attackers was extremely difficult,” said an officer.
The CCTV footage was examined frame by frame and around 200 suspects were identified. Their footage was uploaded to different facial recognition systems, but police couldn’t make a breakthrough.
Their photographs were physically cross-referenced with active members of the different gangs active in Delhi-NCR and were also shown to informers. The list of suspects was thus narrowed down.
During this exercise, a few informers identified Rohit Solanki, a resident of Delhi’s Pooth Village, after reviewing the CCTV footage, police said.
Following this, a raid was conducted Monday at Solanki’s house, but he was absconding along with his family members.
Technical analyses found Solanki using SIM cards issued on fake IDs. Police also found he was in contact with his associates using Virtual Private Networks. Using CCTV footage and technical surveillance, police also traced his location prior to and after the incident to join the dots, officers said.
“Investigation revealed Solanki went to a house in Paschim Vihar (after returning from Bangkok). It was identified on the basis of technical surveillance. Solanki had come there with one of his friends and stayed until the following evening. He was trying to contact his acquaintances,” DCP (North) Raja Banthia said.
During this period, raids were conducted at various locations in Delhi and Gurugram in coordination with the local police. Police found Solanki was staying in Majra Dabas, a village on the Delhi-Haryana border. He was arrested from there.
DCP Banthia said it’s not immediately clear if Solanki also fired gunshots, but they are probing the case in detail.
Contract killing
On sustained interrogation, Solanki revealed that he was introduced to gangster Kapil Mann in 2019 by Yovin Solanki. Yovin was a real estate businessman who was shot dead allegedly by the Tillu gang in Rohini’s Sector 24 in 2020. He was 25.
Rohit Solanki remained in contact with Kapil Mann and gradually began handling his illegal activities and outside-jail operations, the DCP said.
In 2019, he came in contact with members of the Rohit Godara gang. They also provided him with sophisticated pistols to work upon the directions of the gang, said police.
“Kapil Mann provided him with Rohit Godara’s social media ID for communication. Meanwhile, Rohit Godara directed Solanki to coordinate with one of his associates regarding a contract killing. The target was Deepak Khatri, who is also known as Mama,” said the DCP.
He said Rohit was instructed to track Khatri, and gather information. He was promised substantial payment, the DCP added.
“After an initial failed plan in Dehradun due to unclear location details, Rohit identified Deepak Khatri at Marghat Wale Baba Temple through Instagram leads,” DCP said.
By now, he had carried out a detailed recce of Marghat Wale Mandir one week prior to the incident.
Hence, on February 24, Solanki, along with Vikram and two other shooters arranged by Rohit Godara, attacked them near the temple. It was Rohit who identified the target and the shooters opened fire, and fled from the spot, police said.
“Solanki further disclosed to police that after the incident, he wanted to escape to Dubai for which he reached Jaipur and boarded a flight for Bangkok. However, Immigration Officer at Bangkok Airport found him suspicious and sent him back to India and since then, he was hiding himself in Majra Dabas,” DCP said.
During interrogation, Solanki also revealed that while fleeing after carrying out the attack, they abandoned the scooter and a Glock pistol near Rajghat, and fled away.
Police said a truck driver later found the abandoned pistol and he kept that with himself.
While he reached Patparganj Industrial area, he accidently fired a shot from the pistol, injuring one of his co-workers. He told the police he found the pistol near Rajghat. Police also seized the abandoned scooter from there.
Solanki, a resident of Pooth Kalan, worked as a delivery executive. Later, he opened a car washing and service station, in a rented premises in his village in which he suffered losses.
Shooter also arrested
Meanwhile, DCP (Crime Branch) Pankaj Kumar confirmed the arrest of Sagar (22), a resident of Pooth Kalan, who was also allegedly involved in the incident.
“Police received a tip-off that a scooter was involved in the incident, and efforts were on to trace the owner of the vehicle. It led the police to Sagar Malik. However, he was absconding. Sagar and Solanki are good friends, and Solanki used Sagar’s scooter in the incident,” said an officer.
On March 2, a trap was laid near Japanese Park in Rohini, and he was arrested.
“Sagar is a class 10 dropout, and was struggling financially with unemployed parents and a sister. He fell in bad company and has been involved in an attempted murder case in 2024,” DCP Kumar said.
He added that Sagar disclosed that the incident was committed on directions of gangster Rohit Godara.
“Rohit gave the hit to assassinate the lawyer. Solanki, along with one more accused, conducted the recce to check the daily routine of the target. Since Sagar had a leg injury and a plaster, his job was to provide logistics,” the DCP added.
The scooter used in commission of crime belonged to Sagar’s mother. He provided the same to Solanki. He also arranged a sim on fake ID for Solanki, the officer said.
“Some active and passive associates were also present at the spot to manage things, a Glock pistol recovered from him was sent by the gang’s head to complete the task,” DCP added.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)