Two Arrested in Goa in Connection with Murder of INLD Leader Nafe Singh Rathee

According to police on Monday, two persons from Goa have been taken into custody in relation to the murder of INLD leader Nafe Singh Rathee.

On February 25, several bullets were fired on the car of Rathee, the head of the Indian National Lok Dal's (INLD) Haryana unit, and party volunteer Jai Kishan in Bahadurgarh, in the state's Jhajjar district.

In a coordinated effort, the local police, the Delhi Police's Special Cell, and the Haryana Police's Special Task Force detained Ashish and Saurabh in Goa, according to authorities.

They would be transported to the nation's capital by afternoon, according to police sources in Delhi, who said that they were taken into custody from North Goa, where they were lodging at a hotel.

According to a top Delhi Police officer, on February 25, four people—Ashish, Saurabh, Nakul, and Atul—opened fire on Rathee and Kishan's car.

The officer said that a squad from the Delhi Police's Special Cell (Southwestern Range) was engaged in the Goa operation. The two gunmen will be sent to Bahadurgarh after being apprehended in Goa based on several leads, according to the Haryana Police. Residents of Nangloi, Delhi, Ashish and Saurabh are friends with UK-based mobster Kapil Sangwan, who claimed responsibility for Rathee's death in an alleged social media post.

Before the Lok Sabha elections, opposition parties in BJP-ruled Haryana reacted sharply to the assault on the INLD leader.

Former BJP MLA Naresh Kaushik and others were mentioned by Jhajjar police in the FIR that was filed after the event. The complaint was filed under the Arms Act and other sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 302 (murder).

Rakesh, Rathee's nephew, had said to police that five unidentified assassins, who were pursuing them in a vehicle, had emerged and opened fire randomly close to the Barahi railway crossing.

The Central Bureau of Investigation will take up the investigation into the deaths, according to statements made recently by Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij in the state parliament.

Despite a threat to Rathee's life, senior INLD politician Abhay Singh Chautala has said that the BJP-JJP administration in Haryana has neglected to provide protection for him.