Karni Sena Chief’s Murder: NIA Arrests One More Suspect, Recovers 8 Pistols from Him | Exclusive on Raids at 31 Spots in Haryana, Raj

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday arrested Ashok Kumar, a key suspect in the murder of Shri Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena chief Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi, during its extensive raids across Haryana and Rajasthan. The arrest takes the tally to 9.

Gogamedi, along with one Naveen Shekhawat, was killed in a shootout at the former’s Shyam Nagar residence in Jaipur on December 5. One of the two others who were injured, Ajeet Singh, succumbed later. The case, originally registered by the Rajasthan Police, was taken over by the NIA on December 11, and re-registered as RC-02/2023/NIA/JPR.

Kumar was arrested from one of the locations following the recovery of arms and ammunition, including eight pistols, on his premises in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. His questioning also revealed his association with gangster Rohit Godara, an accused in the case, who had allegedly motivated the two shooters to murder Gogamedi.

As part of its ongoing investigations, the NIA raided a total of 31 locations, including the houses of the accused and several suspects in Rajasthan and the neighbouring state of Haryana.

The 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 GOGAMEDI MURDER

According to the NIA, the two armed assailants were identified as Rohit Rathore, a resident of Jhotwara, Jaipur, and Nitin Fauji of village Dogda Jaat Mahdendragarh, Haryana. The case had triggered widespread protests and outrage in Rajasthan last month. Both Rohit and Nitin were arrested from Chandigarh on December 9.

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. All the accused and suspects were found to have been associated with the accused before and after the murder of Gogamedi, as per the NIA investigations, which are going on.