Sources claim that the deceased was in the real estate business and had criminal antecedents. (Photo: Pixabay)

Patna: A senior Congress party leader was gunned down by unidentified assailants on Saturday in Bihar’s East Champaran district.

The incident took place when the victim Chotu Jaiswal, vice-president of the East Champaran unit of the Congress party, was having tea at a roadside stall in the morning.

Eyewitnesses stated that the victim was rushed to the nearby hospital where the doctors declared him dead. According to the police, “The motive behind the killing is still being investigated and manhunt to nab his killers has been launched”.

The police however also did not rule out personal or business rivalry behind the killing. Sources claim that the deceased was in the real estate business and had criminal antecedents.

Local Congress party workers took out a procession and also vandalized vehicles in Motihari to protest against the killing. The cops said that a team has been constituted to probe the case. They are using CCTV footages of the incident spot.

This is the first high profile political killing after CM Nitish Kumar snapped ties with the grand secular alliance and formed a government with BJP in Bihar. The murder of the Congress leader soon kicked up a political storm.

The Opposition RJD says that the good governance policy of Nitish Kumar has failed and people are being murdered out of vendetta politics.

“The lawlessness has returned to haunt people. Nitish Kumar who doesn’t compromise on his good governance policy is silent because the incidents have occurred when NDA is in power”, RJD leader and former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav said on Saturday.

According to an insider, the state unit of the Congress party is likely to hold a meeting in Patna to discuss the situation and plan a strategy to hold district-wise protest against falling law and order condition in Bihar.