New Delhi:
The Delhi Police has released video footage that it says is from CCTV cameras at the farmhouse where BSP leader and real estate tycoon Deepak Bhardwaj was shot dead this morning.
The 27-second clip shows a grey Skoda car drive up to the farmhouse gate. Two men follow, one brandishing a revolver, apparently to threaten the security guard, and open the gate. The gun-toting man turns briefly and his face is visible for a few seconds before the two follow the car out of the farmhouse. The camera clock shows 9.14 in the morning.
(Watch)The police said the men in the CCTV footage were fleeing after shooting Mr Bhardwaj at his farmhouse near Rajokri on the Delhi-Gurgaon border this morning. The 62-year-old real estate dealer, who contested the last Lok Sabha elections on a Bahujan Samaj Party ticket, had declared assets of Rs 600 crore, making him the richest candidate in the 2009 elections.
At 8.55 am, the police said earlier, three men drove into the farmhouse, Nitesh Kunj, which is right next to the National Highway 8 and is used as a hospitality hub. They gained entry at the gate on the pretext of booking the farmhouse for a wedding. Once inside they asked for Mr Bhardwaj, had an argument with him and then shot him twice at point-blank range, the police said. Two other people were injured.
(Read: Tycoon who nursed political ambitions)Mr Bhardwaj was taken to the Army's Research and Referral Hospital close by, where he died. A post-mortem is being conducted at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
His estranged wife and son are being questioned by the cops who are also probing the angle of business rivalry behind his murder.
Deepak Bhardwaj, who had contested elections from West Delhi in 2009, owned businesses in real estate and hotels and also ran a school in Dwarka; he had plans to open two more schools. He is said to have owned a lot of land in the Rajokri area.