It has been more than a week since the murder of 65 -year -old Gopal Khemka, a famous industrialist in Patna, the capital of Bihar. There is still a stable stream of relatives, friends, business community people, and politicians visiting the House to console family members.
On July 4, at 11.37 pm, Gopal was shot dead outside his house, near Ramgulam Chowk, an upmarket area in Patna. The bike-based man shot him in a point empty range with a 9 mm pistol when Gopal was still in his car. The police that night filed a first information report on the complaint of Gopal’s younger son Gaurav Khemka.
Three days later, the police arrested 48 -year -old shooter Umesh Yadav from his home from an old area in Patna in Malsalami, with narrow streets to the Ganges. Police say Yadav was hired by another 70 -year -old businessman Ashok Sao, who was reportedly killed Gopal on a land dispute.
Another 30 -year -old major suspected development, alias Raja, along with police in Damaria Ghat area of Patna in an abandoned brick kiln with police in early 8 hours of July, half a kilometer away from his house. Patna police say that currently more than a dozen suspects have been detained and interrogation is going on.
Since the shooting, the Khemka family has not spoken to the media. Vivek Khemka, a cousin of 45 -year -old Gopal, says, “Police have already said that the investigation is going on and more people will be arrested. We have lost a family member. We are shattered.”
This is the second member of the Khemka family, similarly killed. In December 2018, Gunjan Khamka, the 39 -year -old of Gopal’s oldest child, was shot in his car in Hazipur Industrial Area in Patna, where there is a surgical cotton manufacturing unit in the family. It was also allegedly on a land dispute around a biscuit factory located on Hajipur-Mahua Road.
Gopal has survived his wife Avita, 58; His daughter Garima, who lives in Scotland; And Gaurav, 36, who takes care of the business. On 6 July, the funeral of Gopal’s body was performed at Gulbi Ghat.
Family relations
One of the eight children, Gopal was born in a Marwari business family, and grew up in Patna. He went to Sir Ganesh Dutt Paliputra High School and graduated from Vanajya Mahavidyala in Patna with a B.Com degree. In 1985, he established GK Cotton Private Limited for the manufacture of surgical cotton and coaches.
Dead businessman Gopal Khemka. , Photo Credit: File Photo
According to family sources, in 1990, he opened his first chemist shop, Ayshadi Medico in front of Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) on Ashok Rajpath. Later, he expanded his business in a rice mill, a petrol pump and real estate. He was also a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Business Sale by 2010.
That year, he opened Magadh Hospital in Rajendra Nagar area, offering multi-specific healthcare. However, by 2020, the hospital was closed. Currently, the intermediary hospital rents the premises for its pediatric and adolescent gynecological ward.
The main hospital was the place where Gopal would be taken at night, his family heard a gun bullet from his residence on the sixth floor of the Kataruka Niwas apartment block. Police say Gopal had a daily routine to visit the Bankipore Club near Patna Collection, who was driving a few kilometers away in her brown Hyundai i20 to spend time with her friends.
He was the former secretary of the club and was also part of Rotary International. On his social media account, Gopal posted pictures of meeting various people. Sources say that he will also interact with the top BJP leadership in the state.
When he reached his apartment and honored outside the gate, a man on a bike waiting near the parking area, wearing a helmet, came out near the car and removed the pistol close to the window. Gopal died with a single bullet, although two more were removed.
A relative, Shankar Khamka says, “The police were immediately informed, but it took them an hour and a half to reach the spot.” The crime took place just 250 meters from Gandhi Maidan Police Station and was less than 200 meters from the official residence of Patna District Magistrate. Police claim that they first went to the hospital and then went to the crime site.
Investigation begins
After the murder, a special investigative team (SIT) was formed under the direction of Bihar Police Headquarters and investigation was initiated.
Bihar Director General of Police (DGP) Vinay Kumar told the press at the police headquarters four days after the murder that the Special Task Force (STF) and Patna Police had studied footage from 57 CCTV cameras to catch the shooter. He said that the police also recovered ₹ 3.5 lakh from their house.
“When the people around were questioned about the owner of the motorcycle, it was found that it was Umesh Yadav,” Kumar said. According to a neighbor, Yadav carried out a business to rent a generator for parties and other social work. Kumar said, “When his house was searched, shirts, shoes, helmets, masks worn at the time of the incident were recovered. During intensive interrogation, Umesh Yadav admitted the murder of Gopal Khemka.”
Yadav had hidden arms and remaining bullets on the first floor of his house, said Kumar said. When the room was searched on the first floor, 56 rounds of 7.62-mm live cartridges, a 9-mm pistol, two magazines and 14 bullets were recovered.
Police say Yadav was promised ₹ 4 lakh for murder, with ₹ 50,000 advance and the remaining ₹ 3.5 lakh was given by SAO after killing. He used most of the advances – ₹ 42,000 – to pay his daughter’s pending school fees.
The car in which Gopal Khemka was when he was shot on 4 July. Photo Credit: File Photo
Yadav met Sao in Bihar Sharif, which was about 80 km from Patna, in a wedding one and a half years ago, and started doing strange work for her. About one and a half months ago, Sao asked Yadav to arrange a shooter and weapon to kill Gopal. Police say Sao bought two mobile phones; He kept one and gave Yadav to one. Both SIM cards were named after Yadav.
Senior Superintendent of Patna Karthikeya Sharma said, “Yadav then contacted Vikas alias Raja from his region, who has several cases of murder, robbery and arms act violations.”
He said, “The king demanded ₹ 4 lakh. Yadav thought he would do it himself and take money. Sao gave him 9 mm pistols, two magazines and 18 bullets. Photo and vehicle registration number of Gopal Khemka was given.”
Prior to the murder, Yadav reclaimed Gopal’s house and noted his routine of going to the club and then left his friend in Bakarganj before returning home. The police revealed that when the SIT team reached the club, they found that the installed CCTVs were not working. Police has given notice to the club in this case.
Yadav told the police that where Sao lived, and when the police raided the house, they recovered ₹ 6.5 lakh cash, a pistol, 17 live cartridges, piles of land documents and other items.
According to the police, Yadav has no criminal record. Sao, who has an iron manufacturing business, was suspected of two murders, one of a businessman in 2002, and one of a transporter in 2009, but there was no evidence against him. In 2006, Sao, who moved to Patna 20 years ago, went to jail in Bihar Sharif in the murder of a businessman from where he is.
Baiklash in Bihar
The police did not deny the string of Khemka and his son’s murder. “In that case, the police arrested four people,” Kumar says, who was then in the Criminal Investigation Department. Kumar said, “One of the accused, Abhishek alias Mastu was murdered when he was released from jail. The case is going on and the next hearing is on July 15.”
The king’s parents, Shanti Devi and Pradeep Prasad live in the under-developed Malsalami region. He says that his son worked as a laborer in Chennai and returned a week ago. When the police showed him to ask him on the morning of 7 July, “He was sleeping. They also searched our house and asked the king to have breakfast and bathe. Then they took him. The next we heard, she was shot in a police encounter,” Devi said.
Sharma claims that during interrogation, the king had revealed that he had hidden the weapon in a shut-down brick-borne factory. Says Sharma, “The police team went to the spot with him. However, after receiving the weapon, he started firing at the police team and in a ventilative firing, he was shot. He was taken to a government hospital where he was declared dead,” Sharma said that there were 10 cases against him.
Police personnel in the abandoned brick kiln, where a major suspect in the murder of industrialist Gopal Khemka was killed by a gun with a gun. , Photo Credit: File Photo
In 1999, criminals set fire to Gopal’s elder brother Vijay Khemka when he was at his drugstore, but he survived. In 2016, someone set Gopal’s younger son on fire, but he survived.
In both cases, the family did not file a police complaint. After the murder of his elder son, Gopal was bodyguard with police, but was withdrawn in April 2024. The police is investigating the reason for this.
Leader of the Opposition, Tejashvi Yadav, Khemka went home to meet the family. He criticized the Bihar government on law and order. Deputy Chief Ministers Emperor Chaudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha also visited the family. Chirag Paswan, a partner of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), who is the head of the Lok Jansansh Party (Ram Vilas), and who is in an alliance with the ruling party, also exited in the Bihar government.
Bihar Industries Association President KPS Keshari says that this murder will have a negative impact on businesses in Bihar. “Some potential investors in Bihar called me to inquire about the incident. He asked if the situation in Bihar was deteriorating on the law and order front.” “This incident has shaken the entire business and business community,” says Kamal Nopani, a Patna-based businessman and national vice-president of the unions of all India traders. ” Many traders have applied for arms license in view of Bihar’s high crime rate. Ravi Gupta, 38, from Nawada district, is a person. “Our family has been in cement and steel business for the last three decades. I have about 50 people working,” they say that it has been more than a year, saying that they have applied for a license, but still not found.
In April, Bihar Police revealed that between January 1 and April 7, 2025, 1,632 people were arrested in murder cases across the state, while 947 were caught for attacks on police personnel.
amit.bhelari@thehindu.co.in
Edited by Sunlini Matthew
