By IANS,
New Delhi : Delhi Police Wednesday said they have detained eight people and questioned around 20 others in connection with the murder of billionaire realtor and BSP leader Deepak Bhardwaj. Those quizzed include his wife and younger son.
The 62-year-old real estate tycoon was shot dead Tuesday by two unidentified men in his farmhouse here.
Bhardwaj’s wife was questioned because police wanted to know if she had a grudge against her husband since she was living separately in Dwarka with younger son Nitish for several months, a police officer close to the probe told IANS. The officer did not want to be named.
The officer said South Delhi special staff and local police also questioned Nitesh, 32, since he had filed a police case against his father some months ago and in turn, Bhardwaj had lodged a complaint against his son.
Another senior police officer told IANS on condition of anonymity that the investigation is on the right path and police will solve the case very soon.
However, among the eight people detained, no one has been arrested, the officer said.
Police have impounded 15 grey-coloured Skoda cars from north and northwest Delhi, but were yet to confirm that the car used in the crime was among these or not.
The killers and an accomplice fled in a Skoda with a fake registration number.
Police want to know the reason behind the cross-complaints. They are still working on the rivalry theory over property or family disputes, the officer said.
Investigators are also trying to find out Bhardwaj’s recent property and business deals and any disputes in these.
Police said the three assailants were hired shooters and are on the lookout for them based on CCTV camera footage from the farmhouse gate.
They are going through footage since the last one month.
They have also sought Bhardwaj’s phone call details.
Bhardwaj, the richest candidate in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls with declared assets of over Rs.600 crore, was shot twice.
The post mortem report revealed he was shot two rounds – one in the head and the second in the chest.
The killers had entered the farmhouse on the pretext of meeting Bhardwaj to book a hotel in the farmhouse complex.