Sudesh Sarin can’t believe Gopal Khemka is no more. Sarin, who’s a close friend, was with prominent Patna businessman Khemka only minutes before he was killed Friday night near his residence in the city’s Gandhi Maidan area.
“We were returning from the Bankipore Club. He dropped me off at Exhibition Road just minutes before the incident. Around midnight, I received a call from another friend who told me Gopal had been shot dead,” he said, adding “If the attack had been minutes earlier, it could have been me as well.”
A well-known businessman in Bihar and the owner of Magadh Hospital, Khemka – reportedly associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party — was shot dead by unidentified assailants late Friday night near his residence in Patna’s Gandhi Maidan as he was getting out of his car near the Twin Tower residential complex. His killing came six years after his son Gunjan, also a local BJP leader, was killed in a similar manner in Hajipur while on his way to his paper mill in the industrial area.
One of the city’s most prominent businessmen, Khemka had various business interests – from owning a hospital and some factories to expanding into real estate. He is survived by a doctor son, and a daughter who lives abroad.
Security personnel and others stand outside the residence of businessman Gopal Khemka. (PTI Photo)
The killing has left his friends and acquaintances shaken – especially given that it was at the very heart of the city.
“Despite this being such a posh area and Gandhi Maidan police station just 500 meters away, no police officer arrived at the scene for nearly an hour and a half. There should have been a patrolling van here,” Kusumlata Verma, who’s known the Khemkas for 37 years, said. “If a police vehicle had been present, perhaps this incident could have been prevented. I myself passed by the area around 11:15 pm.”
According to Sarin, Khemka had no known disputes, nor had he received any threats. Khemka and his family “were well respected people”.
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“He never discussed any problems. He was a good man,” he said.
It was through the city’s Bankipore Club that Rajeev Kumar Singh, a 37-year-old businessman, met Khemka six years ago. While Khemka was the director of the club, Singh was a member who frequented the place.
“Khemka uncle was the director of the club. He was also a prominent member of the Rotary Club,” he said. “If such a prominent person can be murdered in the heart of the city, near the district magistrate’s residence, who is safe in Patna?”
