New Delhi: After raiding 31 locations in Haryana and Rajasthan, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Wednesday arrested a key suspect in the December murder of Shri Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena chief Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi. According to the NIA, a cache of arms and ammunition was also recovered from the residence of the suspect, Ashok Kumar, in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu.
The NIA said in a statement that Kumar had “revealed his role in the case and also about his association with the notorious gangster Rohit Godara”. A total of nine people have been arrested in the case so far.
Rohit Godara, a gangster with ties to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, had in a purported post on Facebook claimed responsibility for the killing.
Gogamedi was shot dead and two others injured at his Jaipur home on 5 December. Another person, who was caught in the crossfire, later succumbed to bullet injuries at a local hospital.
While the Rajasthan police registered a case and made several arrests, including those of two alleged shooters, the central probe agency took over the investigation on 11 December.
Rohit Rathore and Nitin Fauji, who shot Gogamedi, were arrested on 9 December from Chandigarh in a joint operation by the Delhi Police Crime Branch and the Rajasthan Police.
One Udham Singh, suspected to have aided the shooters and an alleged associate, was also arrested. Five others, including a woman, have also been taken into custody in connection with the case.
“As part of its ongoing investigations, the NIA today raided a total of 31 locations, including the houses of the accused persons and several suspects, in Rajasthan and the neighbouring state of Haryana. NIA teams made exhaustive searches of the premises and seized a large number of pistols, ammunition, digital devices, including mobile phones, SIM cards and DVRs etc, as well as incriminating documents related to financial transactions,” the agency said in a statement Wednesday.
It added, “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 case. All the accused and suspects were found to have been associated with the accused persons before and after the murder of Gogamedi, as per the NIA investigations, which are still on.”
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