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Deepak Bhardwaj murder: Godman goes missing

Controversial spiritual guru Swami Patimanand, who is believed to have hatched the conspiracy to kill BSP leader and businessman Deepak Bardwaj, is missing, reports said on Wednesday.

Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Controversial spiritual guru Swami Patimanand, who is believed to have hatched the conspiracy to kill BSP leader and businessman Deepak Bardwaj, is missing, reports said on Wednesday. As per reports, the Haridwar-based spiritual guru went missing after his name appeared in the media in connection with Bhardwaj’s murder. The special team of Delhi Police is said to be conducting raids at various places in search of Swami Pratimanand. Days after the sensational murder of business tycoon Deepak Bhardwaj in his south Delhi farmhouse on March 26, Delhi Police on Tuesday claimed to have achieved a major breakthrough in the case. The Delhi Police claimed that the needle of suspicion now points to Pratimanand. who is believed to have hired shooters for Rs 50 lakh to Rs one crore to kill BSP leader Deepak Bhardwaj. The spiritual guru, who lives in a Ashram in Haridwar’s Kankhal, had a dispute with the real estate tycoon Deepak Bhardwaj over a property in Bahadurgarh, said to be worth several crores. The development in the case came shortly after Purushottam Rana and other alleged shooters Sunil Mann and Amit refused to undergo Test Identification Parade yesterday after4 which they were remanded in police custody for 10 days. Rana had, in his disclosure statement, said that the main accused in this case is a "swamiji" and he is yet to be arrested. Delhi Police is believed to have told a local court yesterday that the two arrested shooters, who allegedly murdered Bhardwaj in his south Delhi farmhouse on March 26, had informed them that a "spiritual guru" gave them the contract to kill the BSP leader for an amount that is believed to be between Rs 50 lakh and Rs one crore. Rana and Mann were arrested for their alleged involvement in the killing of Bhardwaj. Amit, who allegedly drove the car in which the shooters fled, and the owner of the vehicle were also arrested. Though the motive is yet to be determined as the main conspirators are not arrested, police suspect that property or money could be the reason behind the murder of Bhardwaj, the richest candidate in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. The sources claimed that the alleged shooters during interrogation had given contradictory details about those who gave them the contract to kill Bhardwaj. They had allegedly taken the name of a pilot as the one who gave them the money to kill Bhardwaj. However, police believe that the pilot has no role. Investigators have not given clean chit to anyone in the case and had even questioned his family - wife and his two sons - who was living separately due to differences with Bhardwaj, a real estate tycoon who owned educational institutions. Police sources said they are yet to establish the chain of conspirators. Police said they are yet to nab the main conspirator and recover weapons used in the crime. Police also told the court that they need to take the accused to Haridwar, Mathura and Jhajjar in Haryana to establish the chain of events which lead to the crime. Investigators also told the court said that Rana had disclosed that the weapons used in the crime were procured by them from one Raju and the pistols were thrown in a canal. Rana has said that he can get the pistols recovered from the canal, the police said, adding that Mann had procured the weapons while Amit played an active role in the entire conspiracy which led to the crime. With PTI inputs