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BSP leader shot dead in Delhi farmhouse
Shaurya K Gurung/TNS

richest candidate Deepak Bharadwaj, a BCom degree holder, was into education, hotel and realty business; ran a school in Dwarka Contested the 2009 Lok Sabha elections on a BSP ticket from West Delhi constituency Was the richest candidate in the elections with declared assets of Rs 600 crore

New Delhi, March 26
A Bahujan Samaj Party leader, Deepak Bhardwaj (62), was gunned down by three assailants at his south Delhi farmhouse this morning.

Bhardwaj had contested the 2009 Lok Sabha elections on a BSP ticket from the West Delhi constituency and was reportedly the richest candidate in the elections with declared assets worth Rs 600 crore.

Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar said three assailants arrived at the farmhouse, ‘Nitesh Kunj’, which was also being used to host marriages, in a Skoda car at 8.55 am. The farmhouse is located next to the National Highway-8 that leads to Gurgaon from Delhi.

“Three people entered the premises saying they had come to book the farmhouse for a marriage. They went inside and started talking to Deepak Bhardwaj before shooting him twice at point-blank range,” said Kumar. He suffered bullet injuries on the chest and back.

The police has recovered the CCTV footage from the farmhouse premises. It shows a Skoda car entering the farmhouse around 8.55 am after a security guard opens the gate and questions its occupants. At 9.14 am, the car leaves the farmhouse with two armed men running towards gate No. 2 to open it.

They both jog alongside the vehicle, as it is driven out of the premises. Four bystanders - two men and two women - are also seen watching the car and the two gunmen leave through the gate.

The police used the footage to trace the vehicle, which it later claimed was stolen. Investigators were preparing sketches of the suspects using the footage. Sources said the men fled towards Gurgaon, located a few kilometres from the crime scene.

Bhardwaj had a battery of around 40 security guards at the farmhouse.

The victim was taken to the Army Research and Referral Hospital, where he died. The police will conduct his post-mortem at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in south Delhi.

An employee said he heard gunshots and ran towards a lawn where people had gathered. “I saw sahib (Bhardwaj) lying on the lawn,” he said. The employee said the lawn was located near Bhardwaj’s office-cum-residence.

“Sahib used to stroll on the premises everyday between 8 am and 9 am. Those who killed him probably knew his morning routine,” he said.

Bhardwaj stayed alone at Nitesh Kunj with his wife and younger son Nitesh living in Dwarka.

Sources claimed Nitesh was married to a relative of a well-known Bollywood actor. Bhardwaj’s elder son Hitesh stays in Vasant Vihar.

Satya Prakash Rana, a Bharatiya Janata Party MLA, said: “The attackers apparently knew the area well. They parked their car near the lawn and went on foot towards the residence. After they fired the shots, they fled using a two-foot lane.”