In a shocking late-night incident, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and prominent businessman Gopal Khemka was gunned down outside his residence in Patna’s Ramgulam Chowk area on Friday. According to police sources, he was shot at close range by an unidentified assailant riding a motorcycle, triggering a political storm and raising serious concerns over law and order in Bihar’s capital.
Khemka, who had just returned from a local club around 11 PM, was stepping out of his vehicle when he was ambushed. “The shooter fired multiple shots with a 9mm pistol from point-blank range before escaping on a bike. Khemka was rushed to a private hospital but was declared dead on arrival,” said a senior police officer.
The murder has chilling similarities to the killing of his son, Gunjan Khemka, who was shot dead near his factory gate in Hajipur’s industrial area in 2018. Gunjan, then the owner of G.K. Cotton Mills, was also targeted by bike-borne shooters, sparking speculation that both murders could be connected.
Following the incident, Bihar DGP Binay Kumar ordered immediate deployment of the Special Task Force (STF) and Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to support the ongoing investigation. A special investigation team (SIT) has been constituted, and several raids are being conducted in and around Patna.
City Superintendent of Police confirmed that investigators have recovered bullet casings from the scene and are scanning CCTV footage from nearby buildings. “At this point, the motive remains unclear. We are not ruling out any angles, including past business rivalries,” the SP added.
The assassination has drawn sharp reactions from political quarters. Independent MP from Purnea, Pappu Yadav, visited the crime scene and lashed out at the Nitish Kumar-led government. Taking to social media platform X (formerly Twitter), he wrote, “Bihar has become a sanctuary for criminals! Nitish ji, please spare Bihar.”
Yadav further said that the failure to deliver justice in Gunjan Khemka’s murder emboldened criminals to repeat history. “Had the state acted decisively in 2018, this tragedy might have been averted.”
Local BJP leaders echoed similar sentiments, demanding immediate arrests and a high-level probe into the double tragedy that has shaken the business and political communities in Bihar.
