In a broad daylight shooting that sent shock waves in Sonebhadra on Thursday, armed assailants opened indiscriminate fire on Chopan nagar panchayat chairman Imtiaz Ahmed, killing him on the spot.
While leaving the scene of crime, the assailants fired several rounds from sophisticated firearms to terrorise passers-by and walked away unchallenged.
Before dying, the victim named a mining mafia as being behind the shooting. Ahmed was opposing illegal mining in the area and he has been handed out life threats.
Luckily for the police, some locals managed to nab one of the gunmen who was trying to escape. He was roughed up by the public before being handed over to the police.
Superintendent of Police of Sonebhadra, Kirit Rathore, said that three assailants shot at the Chopan nagar panchayat chairman with carbine from close range while he was playing volleyball in Grewal Park near his home in Preetnagar.
The assailants shot several rounds at Imtiaz Ahmed (40), a two-time nagar panchayat chairman, and the bullets hit his stomach and leg. He was immediately rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead upon arrival.
One of the assailants, Rakesh Kumar of Palamu district of Jharkhand, was nabbed by the locals and later handed over to the policemen, who are grilling him. A foreign-made pistol and a carbine, left by the assailants, were recovered from the spot.
ASP (Naxal) Avadhesh Singh said that Kumar was being grilled to extract the identity of the other assailants.
Meanwhile, agitated supporters of Imtiaz Ahmed blocked the highway after the incident and vandalised several vehicles.
The police managed to defuse the situation after which the road block was lifted.
Ahmed was an influential leader of the region and his daughter-in-law Babli is the block pramukh of Chopan.
Meanwhile, in Shamli, a 30-year-old factory worker was shot dead by unidentified assailant early on Thursday morning.
Mausam Devi was heading to her work place when the assailant approached her near an arcade and shot her in the chest and head before fleeing the scene.
Circle officer of Shamli, Ashok Kumar, said the shooting was recorded on a nearby CCTV and efforts were on to nab the assailant.
The motive behind her murder was being probed.