NEW DELHI: A Gurugram court has awarded life imprisonment to 5 convicts for the 2022 murder of local BJP leader and former Sohna market committee vice-president, Sukhbir Khatana alias Sukhi. The sentence was pronounced by Additional Sessions Judge Sunil Kumar Diwan, who also imposed a fine of ₹1 lakh on each of the convicts.
On September 1, 2022, Khatana, a resident of Rithoj village, was shot dead in broad daylight by armed assailants. The incident took place inside a Raymond showroom on Gurdwara Road, near Sadar Bazaar, while he was shopping for clothes. An FIR was lodged at the Civil Lines police station based on a complaint by Anurag, the victim’s son. He alleged that Khatana’s brotherin-law, Chaman, along with his associates, orchestrated the murder.
Initially investigated by local police, the case was later handed over to the Special Task Force (STF). The STF arrested 20 individuals for allegedly planning and executing the killing. Among them were Chaman alias Pawan, politician Rohtas Khatana’s brother Joginder, and gangster Vikram Singh alias Papla Gujjar. According to police, Chaman had personal enmity with Khatana, stemming from the latter’s court marriage to Chaman’s sister, Pushpa. Pushpa is currently serving as councillor from Ward No. 2.
Investigators revealed that Chaman conducted surveillance on Khatana more than 10 times before the attack. After hearing arguments from both prosecution and defense, the court on Monday convicted five of the 20 accused: Chaman, Yogesh, Deepak, Arun alias Ankul and Rahul.
