Indian American Arrested for Hiring Hitman to Allegedly Kill Ex-Girlfriend and Others

An Indian American store clerk in Texas was arrested on April 17 for allegedly hiring a hitman to kill his ex-girlfriend and three others. Rajesh Bakshi, 54, was married and lived in Pearland, Texas.

Bakshi was charged with four counts of solicitation of capital murder and faces life in prison if he is convicted. Prosecutors set bail for Bakshi at $250,000 for each count. However, the store clerk’s defender said he has a history of health issues, including diabetes and neurological orders and asked that bail be set at $30,000 for each person Bakshi targeted. The identities of the targets have not been revealed by the authorities, reported India West.

Bakshi is an Indian citizen and the judge has said that if he makes bail he must surrender all travel documents, including his passport, while setting bail at $150,000 for each count.

“This operation saved lives in a very sensitive situation,” District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement. “Imagine how bad this could have been had it not been uncovered before it got to a real hitman,” Ogg added.

A Harris County report from the Texas District Attorney’s office said that Bakshi has a wife, twin daughters and a teenage son. He dated his girlfriend for a while before she broke it off. He then started a pattern of harassment for months and was allegedly violent with her, according to court papers, the report said. The attorney also said that after he was rejected repeatedly he tried to assassinate the former girlfriend, her parents, and her new boyfriend by having them shot and killed

While Bakshi thought he was hiring a hitman, he actually hired an undercover cop. Bakshi allegedly arranged to pay the hitman $15,000 to kill all four, and to sprinkle cocaine on their bodies. He also asked for the photos of the dead victims.

Prosecutors alleged that Bakshi gave the undercover cop details of the four victims’ schedules and where he could kill them. He was arrested after making the first installment of $1,500 for the contract killing. Bakshi had $13,000 in cash at the time of his arrest.

The public defender said that Bakshi only earned about $1,400 per month working at the Dixie Corner Store, adding that he lives in Pearland with relatives, as per the report.