BJP neta’s murder: JJP member’s brother held

Gurgaon: The special task force (STF) of Haryana Police on Wednesday night arrested the brother of a JJP politician for allegedly aiding the murder of BJP member Sukhbir Khatana over political rivalry.
The former vice-chairman of the Sohna Market Committee was shot dead inside a garment showroom by 4-5 assailants in Sadar Bazaar on September 1.
Police said Joginder Khatana, the arrestee, as well as the victim’s brother-in-law, Chaman, the prime accused who was arrested on September 23, were known to each other for the past six years.
Joginder further instigated Chaman and even gave him Rs 25 lakh from which weapons were bought for Rs 3 lakh, investigators said.
In his confessional statement, Chaman told police officers that Joginder had started threatening him 10 days before the crime for taking money but not carrying out the murder.
The murder was not planned in a day. Joginder had started giving money to Chaman since 2019 for plotting the murder and hiring shooters.
Investigators said that Joginder’s brother Rohtash Khatana contested elections from Sohna assembly constituency on a JJP ticket in 2019 but had lost to the BJP. “Joginder and Sukhbir, the victim, were also rivals in the local and panchayat elections. Joginder blamed Sukhbir for his brother’s defeat in the last assembly elections in Sohna and held animosity against him,” inspector general of STF, Satish Balan, said.
“While Chaman was desperate to take revenge as the victim had married his sister, Joginder provided the means for it to happen by giving money. We are investigating the case and looking into the involvement of more people,” he added.
The shooters were provided by gangster Vikram alias Papla Gujjar who also had provoked Chaman to kill his brother-in-law. One of the shooters, Yogesh alias Sillu, was arrested by the police earlier. “Joginder was produced in a court on Thursday and taken on a day’s police remand,” the IG said.
Khatana was vice-chairman of the market committee between 2010 and 2015. He had also tried his luck in electoral politics by contesting the zila parishad elections twice but was defeated on both occasions.
A resident of Rithoj village, he had moved to Maruti Kunj and was known for his helpful nature, his family said.