Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena leader Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi, who came into the limelight during the protests against director Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film Padmavat in 2017-18, was shot dead by three unidentified assailants at his residence here on Tuesday. Mr. Gogamedi’s security personnel and another man were also injured in the firing.
Mr. Gogamedi, 50, was the president of right-wing outfit Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena. He was earlier associated with an organisation of Rajputs, Rashtriya Karni Sena, operating at the national level, but later parted ways with it following a dispute and established his own outfit.
Jaipur Police Commissioner Biju George Joseph said three persons had come to meet Mr. Gogamedi at his house in Shyam Nagar and sat with him for some time before firing at him at close range. His security guard tried to stop the assailants, who fired at him as well.
Mr. Gogamedi was rushed to a private hospital situated nearby, where he died of injuries. One of the assailants was killed in the crossfire, while two others fled on the scooty of a rider whom they threatened with their pistols, Mr. Joseph said.
The daylight murder created panic in the area and the members of Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena as well as young persons belonging to the Rajput community staged a protest outside the hospital. BJP State president C.P. Joshi expressed shock over the incident and said it was the outcome of the “atmosphere of lawlessness” prevailing during the last five years of the Congress rule.
Mr. Gogamedi had also organised a massive protest of the Rajput community against the encounter of gangster Anandpal Singh in Churu district in 2017. He fought the State Assembly election on a Bahujan Samaj Party’s ticket from Hanumangarh district’s Bhadra seat in 2013, but was defeated.
