Muzaffarnagar:
Om Veer Singh, a former Army man and local BJP leader was shot dead in his village, Mirapur, in Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh, by unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle on Tuesday morning.
A police officer said Mr Singh, 40, was also riding a motorbike, when he was attacked, at around 7 am. He tried to shoot back with his licensed revolver, but the gunmen shot him five times in a quick volley. He slumped to the ground and died.
The attackers escaped, taking with them Mr Singh's revolver. His body has been sent for an autopsy, the police said.
The cop said Mr Singh was in the money-lending business and was headed to his village when he was attacked.
Angry BJP workers and villagers sat on the state highway in protest soon after the killing. This is the second murder of a BJP leader in a week.
Vijay Pandit, a prominent leader of Noida was shot dead in the Dadri area on Saturday, also by gunmen on motorbikes. No arrests have been made so far in that case, though several people have been questioned. The police said yesterday that four teams are working on the Pandit case.
There have been protests in Dadri, where shops were closed for the fourth consecutive day today.
Mr Singh was murdered hours before UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav met top officials and cops to discuss rising crime in the state and the administration's response.
His political rivals have demanded his government's dismissal and the imposition of President's Rule in the state.