Rajasthan sets up SIT to catch Gogamedi’s killers, says suspects identified
Gogamedi, who headed a splinter group of the Sri Rajput Karni Sena, was shot dead by the two armed men in the drawing room of his house on Tuesday
JAIPUR: A special investigation team (SIT) has been set up to investigate the murder of Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi, the chief of the Hindu right-wing group Shri Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena (SRRKS), and arrest the two men who shot him, Rajasthan director general of police (DGP) Umesh Mishra said on Wednesday amid continuing protests over the killing.
Mishra said additional DGP (crime) Dinesh MN will lead the SIT and investigators have already identified the two armed men, who roped in a local trader and neighbour of Gogamedi to gain entry into his Shyam Nagar house. A ₹5 lakh reward was also announced for information that leads to the arrest of the two suspects.
Gogamedi, who headed SSRKS, a splinter group of the Sri Rajput Karni Sena, was shot dead by the two armed men in the drawing room of his house on Tuesday. The murder was captured on a CCTV camera in Gogamedi’s house and shows the two men firing multiple shots at him.
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Jaipur (south) deputy commissioner of police Yogesh Goyal said the two assailants have been identified as Rohit Rathore Makrana of Jaipur and Nitin Fauji from Haryana. “The two used a neighbour of Gogamedi, Naveen Singh Shekhawat, to get access to the SRRKS chief’s premises,” said Goyal.
Goyal added that the two men killed Naveen Shekhawat before fleeing the house. Outside, the two men shot Hemraj, who was passing by the area on a scooter and snatched his vehicle. A security guard, Ajit Singh, was also injured in the shooting in the house.
Gogamedi’s family has accused the Rajasthan police of not providing adequate security to the community leader despite threats received by him and continued to hold protests in several parts of the state.
Most markets remained closed in Jaipur, Udaipur, Bundi, Ajmer, Sawai Madhopur, Chittorgarh and other districts following a bandh call by SRRKS. As the protests continued, governor Kalraj Mishra summoned top administrative and police officers to Raj Bhavan for a special review of the law and order situation of the state.
The brazen murder was a serious matter, he said, according to an official statement, and directed the authorities to closely monitor the situation, arrest the criminals and take effective steps to ensure that the law and order in the state does not deteriorate at any level.
A family member said Gogamedi had approached the police about the threats. “He knew that his life was under threat,” he said.
People familiar with the matter said the Punjab Police had also shared inputs with their counterparts in Rajasthan about potential threats to Gogamedi’s life. A February 14 communication from Punjab Police indicated that there were inputs that Gogamedi was likely to be targeted by gangster Sampat Nehra of Lawrence Bishnoi gang who was in Bhatinda’s central jail.
On Tuesday after news of the murder emerged, Rohit Godara Kapurisar, who said he was associated with Lawrence Bishnoi’s gang, claimed responsibility for the shooting in a pos on Facebook.
Bishnoi’s notorious gang has claimed responsibility for dozens of high-profile killings in Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan, including of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala in 2022, and a gangster Raje Theth. The gangster, who has been imprisoned since 2014, has also threatened to murder actor Salman Khan.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajendra Rathore earlier on Wednesday pushed for handing over the probe to the National Investigation Agency.
“Despite the state ATS and the Punjab DGP alerting the local police in Rajasthan several times, the notorious gangsters executed their mission successfully. Police failed to stop them. It’s not the first time… I demand an NIA probe into this matter. I will write to Amit Shah requesting to order NIA to take up the matter,” Rathore said.