Local BSP leader shot dead

A local BSP leader, who was one of the richest candidates in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, was today shot dead by three men at his south Delhi farmhouse, police said.
Deepak Bharadwaj (62), the BSP leader, was shot dead by three people inside his farmhouse in south Delhi's Rajokri area.
Bharadwaj, who was into education, hotel and real estate business and had declared assets worth around Rs 600 crore in 2009, was killed by the men at around 8:55 AM by three men who came in a dark grey Skoda car at 'Nitesh Kunj' farmhouse, Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar told reporters here.

"They entered the place saying that that they have come here for booking the place for a marriage because such functions happen at Nitesh Kunj. They went inside and started talking to Bhardwaj and shot him twice from point blank range," Kumar said.
He said the police have collected a video footage of the car in which the attackers came.
"There are many angles. Family stays away from him. His wife and son stay away from him at Dwarka. So, there are many things," he said when asked about his family and his connections.

Bharadwaj, a B.Com degree holder, was rushed to Army's Research and Referral Hospital near Dhaula Kuan where he succumbed to injuries. The post-mortem will be carried out in AIIMS, the official said.

Bharadwaj had contested the 2009 Lok Sabha elections on a BSP ticket from West Delhi constituency but lost to Congress' Mahabal Mishra. He also ran a school in Dwarka -- Shiksha Bharti Public School.
According to the 2009 affidavit he filed with the Election Commission, he owned agricultural land worth Rs 368.22 crore while his wife had land worth Rs 100.35 crore. Bharadwaj owned buildings worth Rs 28.75 crore besides other assets.
On November 17, last year, businessman Ponty Chadha and his brother Hardeep were killed in a shootout in a South Delhi farm.
In another incident in the capital, a 25-year-old woman was shot dead and her father injured here in a Metro station in east Delhi allegedly by her husband, who was fighting a divorce case.