New Delhi: Fourteen days after the sensational murder of BSP leader Deepak Bhardwaj, Delhi Police yesterday arrested his younger son Nitesh for allegedly giving a Rs5 crore contract to a lawyer to eliminate his estranged business-tycoon father.
Police said it is one of the biggest contract killings in the capital’s history. Nitesh, 36, was arrested along with an advocate-cum-property dealer Baljeet Singh Sehrawat, 51, for the March 26 murder of Bhardwaj at his sprawling, 35-acre south Delhi farmhouse.
Giving the chain of events, police said Nitesh wanted to eliminate his father, the richest candidate in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections with declared assets of over Rs600 crore, due to property dispute. The father and son shared strained relationship and it became bitter when the senior Bhardwaj told his younger son six months back not to enter the farmhouse, which was named The Nitesh.
Nitesh was also peeved about the way his father was planning to share his property, police said. An angry Nitesh hatched a plot to kill his father in January this year, police said.
Police said Sehrawat became part of the plan as he had political ambitions and wanted Nitesh to fund his election campaign in the upcoming Delhi assembly elections from Mahipalpur constituency in south Delhi. But, later Sehrawat changed his mind about Nitesh funding his poll campaign, and agreed on Rs5 crore for carrying out the killing, police said. The deal was stuck. Sehrawat then contacted Swami Pratibhanand, who is also known as Machhinder Nath. Police said the Swami wanted money to buy a plot to build an ashram and agreed to be part of the conspiracy for Rs2 crore.
Later, the Swami contacted his long-time disciple and driver Purushottam Rana, also known as Monu, and introduced him to Sehrawat, who promised to give Rs1 crore for the killing. Rana took the help of his associates Sunil Mann also known as Sonu and Amit.
Police said Nitesh gave a token amount of Rs50 lakh to Sehrawat, who gave Rs3.5 lakh to Rs4 lakh to the Swami. Pratibhanand then gave Rs200,000 to Rana for buying car, weapon and ammunition. While Rana and Mann entered the farmhouse and gunned down the billionaire, meeting him on the pretext of booking the place for a function, Amit drove the getaway car.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police Chhaya Sharma: “Nitesh had given Rs5 crore contract to the lawyer and gave him an advance of Rs50 lakh. The remaining amount was to be paid after the murder.”
Police have so far arrested six people for the murder and are looking for the Swami. Sharma said Nitesh had divorced his wife and was living with his mother Rakesh Kumari at his flat in Dwaraka Sector 11 after his fight with his father. His wife was a relative of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan. Nitesh was detained on Sunday and was formally arrested yesterday afternoon.
IANS
