A local BJP leader, Dayashankar Gupta, was shot on October 16 allegedly by three bike-borne attackers in Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad district.

His party colleague, Viresh Tomar, and two of Tomar’s uncles – Narendra Tomar and Devendra Tomar – have been taken into police custody in connection with the murder after Dayashankar Gupta’s family named them as suspects and alleged political enmity.

Dayashankar worked as the Mandal vice president. He was attacked when was leaving after closing his shop last night at a local market. He was then rushed to a nearby hospital.

‘Viresh Tomar recently had a heated exchange with Dayashankar on Facebook. Viresh Tomar’s uncle had earlier contested local village body election from Ratigarhi village in Firozabad against Dayashanker, and he had won the election,’ police officer A Satish Ganesh said.

Soon after the attack last night, a protest by some family members and supporters broke out near the hospital as they demanded arrest of the accused. Some protesters also tried to block a road in Agra.

‘Some unknown men targeted the BJP leader in the marketplace. We are carrying out a probe. We talked to the protesters to calm them down. We are aiming for a breakthrough in the next 24 hours,’ police officer Mukesh Kumar Mishra said.

‘He (DK Gupta) was attacked after he had closed shop. The family members have given the name of some suspects. We are conducting a probe,’ Shachindranath Nath Patel, another cop, said.

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