BJP leader shot dead in Ghaziabad, one injured

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) local leader was shot dead and another one was injured when two unidentified bike-borne miscreants opened fire at them at Indira Vihar's Khora Colony in Ghaziabad on Saturday.

The deceased was identified as Gajinder Bhati and the injured as Balbeer Chauhan, the party's Khora mandal head. The incident took place at 1.30pm. The two had just come out of Bhati's house when the miscreants opened fire at them and fled from the spot.

The victims were rushed to the Noida district hospital, where Bhati was declared dead on arrival. Chauhan is in a critical condition.

According to the police, Bhati alias Gajju was a history-sheeter and several different cases were registered against him.

He lived in the Khora Colony and his office was also located there.

"Four bullets hit Bhati while one hit Chauhan. We are investigating the case and scanning the CCTV footage to identify the accused," SP (City) Akash Tomar said, adding that several rounds were fired.

Meanwhile, tension prevailed in the Khora Colony following the incident. Bhati's supporters reached the hospital in large numbers and police personnel had to be deployed to prevent any untoward incident.

The BJP leader's murder comes just a couple of days after Uttar Pradesh (UP) Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath reviewed the law and order situation in the in the city and directed officials to take measures to maintain a crime-free environment.

This is not the first time that a BJP leader has been attacked in UP, a state where the party had swept the Assembly polls recently, ousting the Samajwadi Party (SP). Earlier this year, another BJP leader, Ikhlaq Qureshi, was shot dead.