New Delhi:
Policemen investigating the murder of BSP leader Deepak Bhardwaj have questioned a self-styled godman who was seen speaking to the media outside Mr Bhardwaj's farmhouse the day the politician was murdered.
The god-man was questioned after one of the four accused arrested in connection with the case told their interrogators that a godman had paid them money for carrying out the shooting.
The man who has been questioned has however denied having any role in the murder.
Sources in the police have told NDTV that they believe a group of conspirators are involved in the murder of the BSP leader and that the four accused are not offering consistent versions of who hired them and why.
The 62-year-old BSP leader, whose assets of Rs. 600 crore made him the richest candidate in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, was shot dead at his farmhouse in Delhi on March 26. He was estranged from wife and two sons. They have also been questioned by the police.
Sources say the investigators are yet to ascertain if a dispute over property or money was the motive for the murder.
Three of the accused - Purushottam Rana, Sunil Mann and Amit Kumar - were produced in a court in Delhi today. They have been sent to police custody for 10 days.
The two men who allegedly shot the politician were arrested by the police yesterday at a court where they had come to surrender. A third person, who is suspected to have been driving the car used by the shooters to escape from Mr Bhardwaj's farmhouse, was detained by the police on Sunday. The fourth person under arrest is the owner of the car used by the attackers.
The police have said three men drove a dark grey Skoda car into Mr Bhardwaj's farmhouse, Nitish Kunj, on the National Highway 8 on March 26 and gained entry into it on the pretext of booking the farmhouse for a wedding and shot him twice at point-blank range. Security cameras installed at Mr Bhardwaj's farmhouse captured their pictures.