A bandh was observed in Jaipur and several other districts of Rajasthan on Wednesday on a call given by Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena to protest against the daylight murder of its chief Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi at his residence. The police formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the killing and announced a cash reward of Rs. 5 lakh for any information about the two assailants.
Markets, commercial establishments, schools and colleges remained closed in several cities, including Jaipur, Udaipur, Ajmer, Chittorgarh and Bundi, and members of the Rajput community staged demonstrations and took out rallies. Public transport was affected at several places, where the roads were blocked, and the services of Rajasthan Roadways buses were suspended on many routes.
Mr. Gogamedi, 50, who came into limelight during the protests against Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film Padmavat in 2017-18, was shot dead in his house situated in the Shyam Nagar area here on Tuesday. He headed the right-wing outfit of Rajputs after parting ways with Karni Sena operating at the national level.
The police carried out searches at several locations to find out two accused who were absconding. One of the three assailants, killed in the crossfire on the spot, has been identified as Naveen Singh Shekhawat. Gangster Rohit Godara, said to be linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, has reportedly taken responsibility for the murder in a social media post.
The SIT will be headed by Additional Director General (Crime) Dinesh M.N. Senior police officers went to the Metro Mass Hospital in Mansarovar area – where Mr. Gogamedi’s body was kept and its post mortem was yet to be conducted – to speak to the crowd staging a protest outside the health facility. There was a heavy police deployment at the hospital as well as at the sensitive places in the State Capital and elsewhere.
The protesters were demanding immediate arrest of all the persons involved in the murder, an assistance of Rs. 11 crore to Mr. Gogamedi’s next of kin and government job to a family member, an inquiry by a retired High Court judge into the reasons for not giving security to the Rajput leader, and fast-tracking of the case with death sentence to the murderers.
Governor Kalraj Mishra summoned Chief Secretary Usha Sharma, Director-General of Police Umesh Mishra, Jaipur Police Commissioner Biju George Joseph and other officers to Raj Bhavan and asked them to ensure an early arrest of the accused. A Raj Bhavan spokesperson said Mr. Mishra also spoke to Union Home Minister Amit Shah over telephone and apprised him of the law and order situation in the State.
