Estranged friend, brother-inlaw killed Sohna BJP leader

Gurugram: On September 1, Sukhbir Khatana, 46, a BJP leader in Sohna, was gunned down inside a Raymond showroom in Gurugram. Sukhbir Khatana was very close to the family of Joginder Khatana, who also lived in Sohna, but differences cropped up during the Zila Parishad election, just before the Haryana assembly election in 2019.

“Sukhbir separated himself from Joginder’s family and joined BJP. Rohtash Khatana, brother of Joginder, was fielded as candidate by the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) from Sohna-Tauru constituency, but he lost the election,” said Jaiveer Rathee, DSP, STF, on Thursday as he told reporters that Joginder Khatana, 50, has been arrested for the murder of Sukhbir Khatana. Rathee said that after the election, Joginder roped in Chaman, Sukhbir’s estranged brother-in-law, to kill him. Joginder was arrested by the STF Wednesday night on the basis of a confession of the main accused, Chaman, who, too, had a beef to settle with Sukhbir, whom his sister had married against his wishes years ago. “Chaman with the help of gangster Papla Gujjar gunned down Sukhbir Khatana in the Raymond showroom,” police said, adding that Joginder had hatched the conspiracy and hired Chaman for Rs 25 lakh to kill Sukhbir. Joginder was produced in a city c o u r t Thursday and has been taken on a o n e - d ay police remand by the STF. He will be produced again in the court on Friday. “My father had married Chaman’s sister about 17 years ago. My father had at length pacified him and also helped him many times. His murder was planned by Joginder and others. We want all accused to be brought to book,” Anurag Khatana, son of Sukhbir Khatana, said.