New Delhi: In a major breakthrough in the murder case of billionaire businessman and BSP leader Deepak Bhardwaj, the Delhi Police on Tuesday arrested his younger son Nitesh.

Bhardwaj, who was shot at point blank range at his south Delhi farmhouse in Rajokri during a morning walk on March 26, was estranged from his family. His wife Ramesh Kumari lives with their son Nitesh in Dwarka. The second son, Hitesh, lives in Vasant Kunj.

Police also arrested Rakesh alias Bhola, the owner of the car used by the killers after the murder and Rakesh Malik, a commercial pilot who allegedly hired the shooters. At least four persons, including two sharpshooters, have been arrested and almost 300 people have been questioned so far.

The development came even as spiritual leader Swami Pratibhanand, also a suspect in the murder case, is absconding and is believed to be changing hideouts to avoid arrest. Police said Pratibhanand was last seen in Bihar’s Patna in casual clothes from where he is suspected to have slipped into Kolkata. It is suspected that he was planning to go to Nepal to evade arrest.

Deepak Bharadwaj, the richest candidate to have contested the 2009 Lok Sabha elections in New Delhi, was gunned down by two hired killers Sunil Mann alias Sonu and Purushottam Rana alias Monu on March 26 at his 35-acre farmhouse in south Delhi.

Police had earlier questioned Nitesh, Hitesh and Ramesh Kumari in connection with Bhardwaj’s murder. A manhunt is on for spiritual leader Swami Pratimanand with whom Bhardwaj is believed to be involved in a dispute over a 30 acre piece of land in Haryana’s Bahadurgarh.