Security was stepped up across Rajasthan on Wednesday amid calls for a state-wide bandh, a day after right-wing Rajput leader Sukhdev Singh Shekhawat alias Gogamedi was shot dead by two youths at his Jaipur residence.

A special investigation team has been formed to probe the killing. Police have said the two accused have been identified but are yet to make any arrest. Gangster Rohit Godara alias Rawatdas Swami, who is said to be living abroad and a close aide of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, has meanwhile claimed responsibility for the murder.

Politicians across the spectrum have condemned the killing of Gogamedi, who had remained the president of the Sri Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena since he formed the outfit in 2015. His supporters have staged protests in several areas, with markets and schools remaining shut in a few districts.

But who was Gogamedi?

The 50-year-old leader from Bhadra in Hanumangarh, in his speeches, repeatedly asked Rajputs to unite. “Only then the most powerful people would salute you,” he would often say at the end of a live video or in an interview. He invoked Maharana Pratap in his various interviews and live video streams on Facebook or YouTube on issues related to the community.

Before forming the SRRKS, Gogamedi had........

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