Patna, July 8 (IANS) Bihar Police on Tuesday claimed to have cracked the murder case of high-profile businessman Gopal Khemka, revealing that a property dispute was the primary reason behind his brutal killing outside his home.

Police have arrested two key accused in Khemka’s murder case – the shooter, Umesh Yadav and the conspirator Ashok Sahu. Early this morning, Vikas, an associate of the shooter Umesh, was killed in an encounter with Bihar Police in the Malsalami area.

The revelations were made by Bihar DGP Vinay Kumar in a press conference. Addressing the press this evening in Patna, he said that a special investigation team, along with STF, led a jointly coordinated probe to unearth the conspiracy into businessman Khemka’s killing.

The top cop told the media that the businessman’s murder was a case of contract killing. Umesh Yadav was offered a contract of Rs 4 lakh for killing Gopal Khemka.

“Rs 50,000 was given to him in advance, and the remaining amount was given by Ashok Sahu, on the next day of the incident,” he further said.

During the interrogation, on the basis of his information, 56 rounds of live cartridges, a 9 mm pistol, two magazines and 14 bullets were recovered from the room on the first floor of the house.

The DGP further said that the weapon used to kill Khemka has also been recovered.

The motorcycle that was used to kill Khemka has also been recovered; it belongs to Umesh Yadav. When his house was searched, many damning materials were found and seized including helmet and mask, used by the killer to hide his identity,” he added.

Ashok Sahu and Umesh had known each other for quite some time and had first met at a marriage ceremony, about 1.5 years ago.

According to Bihar Police, businessman Gopal Khemka had some altercations with Ashok Sahu, also a businessman, and the latter had also threatened him during a brawl at an earlier occasion.

DGP Vinay Kumar said that Ashok Sahu had hatched a plot earlier also to kill Khemka and had hired a shooter, but that conspiracy failed.

When grilled, the conspirator Ashok Sahu confessed to the crime and told the cops that he conspired to kill Gopal Khemka because of property rivalry and a dispute over the Bankipur club.

Gopal Khemka, the owner of Magadh Hospital — one of the oldest private hospitals in the state — was shot dead on July 4, just as he stepped out of his car near an apartment close to his residence, Panache Hotel, in the upscale Gandhi Maidan area.

–IANS

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