UP: 4 held in Sanjay Khokhar killing case

Police have arrested four people, including the son and brother-in-law of a former chairperson of the Chhaprauli Nagar Palika here, in connection with the killing of BJP leader Sanjay Khokhar earlier this month, an official said.

Police have arrested four people, including the son and brother-in-law of a former chairperson of the Chhaprauli Nagar Palika here, in connection with the killing of BJP leader Sanjay Khokhar earlier this month, an official said. He said the BJP's former district chief was killed due to to a political rivalry.

Sanjay Khokhar, 52, was out for a morning walk on August 11 when he was shot dead. In a joint operation by the Special Operation Group and police force from the Chhaprauli police station, Sanjeev Khokhar and his nephew Shravan Khokhar were arrested from a bridge near Rathauda canal, Superintendent of Police Abhishek Singh said.

Later on Monday evening, two other accused -- Sagar Baliyan and Sagar Goswami -- were held after a brief encounter with the police. "Sagar Baliyan and Sagar Goswami were arrested after they were injured in an encounter. Both of them were carrying a cash reward of Rs 25,000 each on their arrest," the superintendent of police said, adding one more accused is still absconding. He added that two country-made pistols, live cartridges and a motorcycle have been recovered from the two men.

Police have also recovered a country-made pistol and two live cartridges from Shravan Khokhar, the SP said. "During interrogation, Sanjeev Khokhar said that his sister-in-law Sushila was the chairperson of the Chhaprauli Nagar Palika from 2006 to 2011. After this, with the support of Sanjay Khokhar, only his family members have been on the chairperson's post," the SP said.

He said the accused considered the BJP leader a hurdle. An SIT has been constituted under the Inspector General, Meerut, the police said. Sanjay Khokhar was hit by bullets on the head and in the chest.

He was the district president of the BJP for three years and was removed from the post before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections..