MEERUT: Manoj Kumar Gautam must have thought desperate times call for desperate measures. Now there is blood on the hands of the RLD candidate from Khurja. And it is that of his own brother.In a fast-paced, dramatic turn of events, UP police arrested Gautam on Wednesday, a day after the bodies of his brother Vinod and a family friend, Sachin, were found deep inside a mango orchard. Coming two days before western Uttar Pradesh goes to polls in the first phase of assembly elections, voters in Khurja, 85 km from Delhi and known for its ceramics industry, haven’t been able to talk about anything else but the murders most foul.For a man strong enough to plan the cold-blooded killings, Gautam broke down easily during police interrogation. He is believed to have told cops that despite his best efforts, “in which he spent a lot of his resources”, he hadn’t been able to get a BSP ticket. When the Rashtriya Lok Dal of Jat leader Ajit Singh finally gave him one, he felt he had to do everything in his power to capitalise on the opportunity.“The best way to win, Gautam calculated, was to ride on a sympathy wave that would be generated by news of his brother’s death,” a senior officer involved in the probe told TOI. He is up against the BSP’s Arjun Singh, BJP’s Vijender Singh and Congress ’s Banshi Singh, the sitting MLA.Gautam planned and executed the murders perfectly, timing it just as campaigning reached a crescendo. Shortly after Jayant Chaudhary, the RLD general secretary and Ajit Singh’s son, addressed a rally in Khurja on Monday, two of Gautam’s hired killers shot a bullet each through Vinod and Sachin.“When we found the bodies, we immediately started investigations and traced the calls that had been made to Vinod and Sachin. From there on, it was obvious who was involved,” said Sonia Singh, SSP, Bulandshahr. “We have the phone recordings which incriminate Manoj Kumar Gautam. He had hired two killers, Firoz Shabbir and Parwinder Jatav, for the hit. They were paid Rs 1 lakh. While Firoz has been arrested along with Gautam, Parwinder is absconding. We will catch him soon.”Singh added, “During interrogation, Gautam admitted to the crime and said he had been planning this for the past week. He thought if someone in his family is killed, he will be able to blame his rivals and gain politically. He said he was hoping to ride on a sympathy wave. Gautam and Firoz have been booked for murder and for causing grievous hurt (IPC sections 302 and 34).”In a tight spot and without a candidate, RLD is now battling to contain the damage. “I am not aware of this,” party general secretary Trilok Tyagi said. “But if this is true, it is quite terrible.” Watch RLD candidate's brother, friend shot dead in UP