Rahul Gandhi Slams Nitish Govt Over Patna Tycoon’s Murder, Calls Bihar ‘Crime Capital’
The murder of prominent Patna businessman Gopal Khemka has ignited a political firestorm in Bihar, with Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi launching a scathing attack on the Nitish Kumar government on Sunday, accusing it of turning the state into India’s “crime capital.”
The criticism from the opposition escalated as police formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and raided Patna’s Beur Central Jail to probe potential links to organized crime. Khemka, 65, was shot dead by a bike-borne assailant in the high-security Gandhi Maidan area late Friday night, six years after his son, a BJP leader, was killed in a similar, still-unsolved case.
“Today, Bihar lives under the shadow of loot, gunfire, and murder. Crime has become the new normal, and the government has completely failed,” Rahul Gandhi posted on X (formerly Twitter), making a direct appeal to voters ahead of the state assembly elections due in a few months.
“Every murder, every robbery, every bullet is a cry for change… This time, your vote isn’t just to change the government — it’s to save Bihar,” he added.
The incident has provided fresh ammunition to the opposition. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav slammed the administration for alleged police inaction. “It’s a horrible incident. The businessmen want to leave Bihar. The incident occurred in the heart of Patna… Still, it takes the police two hours to arrive here,” Yadav claimed. He called the Chief Minister “unconscious and tired,” alleging that “officers are running the government.”
The ruling NDA coalition also faced criticism from within, with Union Minister Chirag Paswan calling the murder “a very serious matter.” He questioned whether the administration had provided security to the family after the earlier tragedy.
In response to the growing outcry, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar chaired a high-level review of the law-and-order situation with the Director General of Police (DGP), emphasizing that crime will not be tolerated and instructing officials to expedite the investigation.
The murder of Khemka, the owner of the well-known Magadh Hospital, occurred at approximately 11:40 pm on Friday. CCTV footage captured a lone assailant shooting him at close range as he sat in his car outside his apartment gate.
The DGP has formed an SIT to probe the killing and denied allegations of a delayed response, stating that police were alerted by the hospital where Khemka was taken by his family and reached the crime scene shortly after. The investigation is exploring multiple angles, including the possibility of a property dispute.
The case carries grim echoes of the past. In 2018, Khemka’s son, Gunjan, who was a state convenor for the BJP’s small industries cell, was shot dead in broad daylight. The failure to solve that murder has compounded the family’s tragedy and intensified the current political backlash against the government over public safety.
