GUWAHATI: A BJP worker and a police commando were shot dead by an unidentified assailant ahead of Assembly elections in Manipur.
The incident occurred on Sunday night at Samurou Awang Leikai in the Imphal West district. No arrest has been made so far.
The police said Abujam John (57), the BJP worker, and his cousin, Abujam Tomba (37), were returning home when a gunman fired at them from a close range. While Tomba succumbed to his injuries on his way to the hospital, John died on Monday morning.
After visiting the site, Chief Minister N Biren Singh said it was an attack on the BJP and an innocent man. He condemned the incident and assured that the assailant would be apprehended.
“The attack was carried out by people who do not want peace to prevail in Manipur. The culprit would be arrested and dealt with as per the provision of law,” Singh told journalists.
Local MLA and the state’s Agriculture Minister Oinam Lukhoi, who too visited the site, described it as a “cowardly act”.
The locals on Monday vented their ire against the incident by blocking a road and burning tyres. They sniffed that the incident was the result of political rivalry. The slain BJP worker was close to the minister.
Manipur witnessed a series of violent incidents in the past two months. In a recent incident, a college student was shot dead, and later, some alleged killers, including the brother of a BJP legislator, had surrendered before the police.
On January 5, an Assam Rifles jawan was killed and another injured in an IED blast. In November and December last year, unidentified people had triggered three IED blasts. Nobody died or was injured.
In the deadliest of the attacks which occurred on November 13, a colonel attached to an Assam Rifles battalion, his wife and son, and four personnel were gunned down by the militants in an ambush.
The two-phase polls in the state will be held on February 27 and March 3. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.