New Delhi:
The Delhi Police today arrested Nitesh, the younger son of BSP leader Deepak Bhardwaj, and has accused him of being the mastermind to murder his father at his sprawling farmhouse - called Nitesh Kunj - in south Delhi last month. Mr Bhardwaj's lawyer, Baljeet, who was privy to details of his land deals, has also been arrested in what the police now call a "web of conspiracies" to kill the real estate tycoon.
Here are the 10 latest developments in the case:
The police have alleged that Nitesh, 36, plotted the murder along with Baljeet five to six months ago. The tycoon was estranged from his wife and two sons for some time now and the police allege that he was murdered because of a property dispute.
The cops say they got suspicious when they found that Nitesh had broken his phone on the day of his father's murder. They traced call records from another number that he used and said they got some clues from there.
Nitesh was questioned for over 24 hours yesterday before being arrested. The police claimed that they got details of the plot after they confronted Nitesh with Baljeet, who is also a property dealer.
Baljeet, the police alleged, wanted to stand for elections and needed funds. Nitesh had allegedly offered him unlimited money for his political campaign.
The police have alleged that Baljeet asked for Rs five crore to have Deepak Bhardwaj killed. Nitesh, they alleged, had paid him Rs 50 lakh, of which he gave Rs five lakh to a self-styled godman called Pratibhanand.
It is Pratibhanand, still untraced, who the police say hired two contract killers to murder Mr Bhardwaj. He allegedly paid them Rs two lakhs. These were the men caught on CCTV cameras brandishing guns as they left Mr Bhardwaj's farmhouse minutes after he was murdered. (Watch)
On Monday evening, the police recovered two country-made pistols that were allegedly used to murder Mr Bhardwaj. The guns were found in a canal in Rohtak, Haryana. (Read)
The Delhi Police has released photos of the godman Pratibhanand and also conducted raids in Haryana, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Karnataka for him. He belongs to Bahadurgarh in Haryana.
The police say they cannot rule out the involvement of other family members like Mr Bhardwaj's wife or older son Hitesh just yet.
In the 2009 national elections, Mr Bhardwaj was the richest candidate with assets worth Rs 600 crore. He lost the elections but shot to prominence due to the assets he declared on the affidavit.
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