Deepak Bharadwaj, the BSP leader, was gunned down by the trio who entered his farmhouse in Rajokri at around 8:55 am on the pretext of booking the place for a marriage, Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar told reporters.
The 62-year-old, who was into education, hotel and real estate business and had declared assets worth over Rs 600 crore in 2009, was killed by the men who came in a dark grey Skoda car to his Nitesh Kunj farmhouse.
"They entered the place saying that that they have come for booking the place for a marriage because such functions takes place there. They went inside and started talking to Bhardwaj before shooting him twice at point-blank range," Kumar said.
He suffered bullet injuries on his chest and back and slumped bleeding heavily. He was rushed to Army's Research and Referral Hospital near Dhaula Kuan in south Delhi where he succumbed to the injuries. The post-mortem will be carried out in AIIMS.
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Police have collected a video footage of the car in which the attackers came to the farmhouse located next to National Highway No 8 and used as a hospitality hub. They are also examining call detail records of Bharadwaj.
Bharadwaj, a B.Com degree holder, had contested the 2009 Lok Sabha elections on a BSP ticket from West Delhi constituency but lost to Congress' Mahabal Mishra. He also ran a school in Dwarka called the Shiksha Bharti Public School.
According to the 2009 affidavit he filed with Election Commission, his assets of over Rs 600 crore included agricultural land worth Rs 368.22 crore in his name, his wife had land worth Rs 100.35 crore. Bharadwaj also owned buildings worth Rs 28.75 crore.