BSP leader's murder: Son, lawyer sent to judicial custody

New Delhi: BSP leader Deepak Bhardwaj's younger son Nitesh and a lawyer, arrested in connection with his murder, were sent to 14-day judicial custody by a Delhi court on Friday. Metropolitan Magistrate Sheetal Choudhary dismissed the plea of Delhi Police seeking extension of police custody of Nitesh and advocate Baljeet Singh Sehrawat by four days, and sent the duo to judicial custody till May 2.

Nitesh and Sehrawat were produced before the court after their three-day police custody ended. Police sought extension of their custodial interrogation, saying that their probe into the case is going on and they need to further interrogate the duo regarding the case.

The court, however, dismissed the police's plea saying that there were no fresh grounds to seek extension of their police custody. Both Nitesh (31) and Sehrawat (51) were arrested on April 9, two weeks after Bhardwaj was shot dead in a south Delhi farmhouse, which is named after Nitesh. Police has alleged that Nitesh had given a Rs five crore contract to Sehrawat who in turn had entrusted the job to absconding godman Swami Pratibhanand.

The other accused in the case are alleged shooters Purushottam Rana and Sunil Mann and Amit, the driver of the Skoda car in which the shooters had reached the farmhouse of 62-year-old-Bhardwaj to kill him on March 26. The fourth accused, Pradeep, had allegedly supplied arms to Rana and Mann. All the four are at present in judicial custody.

After the arrest of Nitesh and Sehrawat, police had said that while Nitesh wanted to avenge the insult heaped on him by his father by not allowing him to enter the farmhouse and not intending to give a proper share of property, the lawyer wanted full funding for contesting election. Police said Nitesh was angry with his father, the richest candidate in the 2009 general elections with declared assets of over Rs 600 crore, who lived separately after problems arose in the family some years ago. Nitesh was not allowed to enter the farmhouse where Bhardwaj was living, police had said.