Khokhar was killed over old rivalry

The Bengaluru Rural police on Tuesday claimed to have achieved a breakthrough in the murder of Parvez Hamilton Khokhar, the former chief test pilot and project director of Tejas light combat aircraft.

Five men known to Khokhar are said to have murdered him over property dispute and old rivalry.

“We are likely to make the arrests in a couple of days. We are interrogating the five men who have been picked up to ascertain more details. The evidence gathered so far has established that the men we have detained executed the murder,” an officer said, refusing to share further details.

He added that disputes related to property and old rivalry were the motives for the murder. The suspects were known to the Khokhars and hence executed the murder in a clinical way.

“The telephone call details and other circumstantial evidence helped us solve the case,” the officer said.

According to the police, the three teams that were constituted to investigate the case worked with different angles. They questioned people who had worked with the Khokhars in the past.

Crucial leads

Some people in the gated community at Huskur Gate, off Hosur Road on the outskirts of the City, were then taken into custody. Their inputs provided crucial leads and the police finally picked up five persons. “We are ascertaining if it was a contract killing,” added the police officer.

Khokhar was found murdered at his duplex on November 24. The assailants had tied his hands and legs, and strangled him with a ‘dupatta’. They had then smothered him with a pillow.

There were injury marks on his neck, and a wristwatch, a wallet and cash were found lying near the body. The assailants had ransacked the house, and some items in the cupboards of the rooms were found scattered.

However, most valuables were found intact. The assailants had locked the room in which Parvez’s wife was sleeping before fleeing.

Khokhar was working for Boeing after his retirement, said some Indian Air Force officers.