Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena president Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi was shot dead by three armed men in his house in Jaipur on Tuesday, sending shock waves across Rajasthan.
The incident has sparked a war of words between the BJP and the Congress with both parties claiming that the law-and-order scenario deteriorates under the other's dispensation.
Meanwhile, soon after Gogamedi was shot dead, a gangster associated with the gangs of Goldie Brar and Lawrence Bishnoi, claimed responsibility of the murder.
In a Facebook post, Rohit Godara said they killed Gogamedi because he used to support their enemies.
"I am Rohit Godara Kapursari, brother of Goldie Brar. Today we take full responsibility for the murder of Sukhdev Gogamedi," he said.
Godara, who is said to be in his late 20s, has a notorious criminal records with over two dozen serious cases, including murder and abduction, against him.
In December 2022, he took to Facebook to take responsibility for the killing of gang leader Raju Theth in Sikar. His name had also come up in connection with the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala last year.
Godara was allegedly involved in the killing of Punjab-based history sheeter Manpreet Singh Manna in 2019. He is also an accused in the killing of a local BJP leader.
According to police, Godara also used to run extortion rackets against Rajasthan-based businessmen demanding sums ranging from Rs 5 crore to Rs 17 crore, reported NDTV.
Hailing from Bikaner, Godara is presently on the run and is believed to be in Canada. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has already initiated measures to apprehend him.
Gogamedi was shot dead by three armed men in the living room of his house in Shyam Nagar area of Jaipur. One of the assailants was also killed in retaliatory firing by his security guards.
A chilling video of the incident showed the assailants having tea with Gogamedi minutes before they shot him at least five times with the last bullet piercing through his head.
According to police, the three men had gone to Gogamedi’s house on the pretext of meeting him.
"The entire incident was captured on CCTV. We are trying to identify and trace the other two accused. Those involved in the planning of the murder will also be caught," Jaipur Police Commissioner Biju George Joseph told reporters.
George said the killed assailant was identified as Naveen Singh Shekhawat while the other two managed to flee the spot on a scooty.
One of Gogamedi’s security guards has been injured in the firing and admitted to hospital, he added.
Gogamedi formed Shri Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena after he was expelled from Sri Rajput Karni Sena in 2015 over differences with its founder Lokendra Singh Kalvi.
Gogamedi's relatives claim that he had been receiving threats from gangsters for some years now.
Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat slammed the previous Congress regime in Rajasthan for the law-and-order situation, saying this is the adverse effect of the way "gang wars have flourished" in the desert state since the time of the Ashok Gehlot government.
Senior Congress leader Pramod Tewari, however, claimed that the courage of criminals in Rajasthan has gone up just after the information that the BJP is coming to power in the state.
