BSP leader shot dead over old enmity in UP's Azamgarh

AZAMGARH: A local BSP leader was shot dead in the Mehnagar police station area in this Uttar Pradesh district allegedly over an old rivalry, police said on Tuesday.

Motorcycle-borne assailants opened fire on Kalamuddin Khan (60) late on Monday evening, when he was sitting in front of his house.

Khan was rushed to the community health centre in Lalganj and was subsequently taken to a Varanasi hospital in a serious condition, where he was declared dead, the police said.

An FIR has been lodged against six people, including a former village head, and three of them have been arrested.

An old rivalry is stated to be the cause behind the crime, Superintendent of Police (SP) Sudhir Kumar Singh said. Khan also had a criminal record.

He had six cases, including two of murder, against him, the SP said, adding that these days, he was living in Lucknow along with his son and working as a property dealer.

Khan had returned here on Sunday.

Four police teams have been constituted and raids are being carried out to nab the other culprits, the SP said.

Khan had contested the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls on a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ticket twice.