BJP functionary shot dead in UP's Baghpat

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionary was shot dead in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat district on Tuesday morning, police said. Sanjay Khokhar (52), former district unit president of the BJP, was out for a morning walk when the incident took place, they said. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath condoled Khokhar's death and directed officials to take action against the guilty within 24 hours.

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionary was shot dead in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat district on Tuesday morning, police said. Sanjay Khokhar (52), former district unit president of the BJP, was out for a morning walk when the incident took place, they said.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath condoled Khokhar's death and directed officials to take action against the guilty within 24 hours. "Sanjay Khokhar, a resident of Tilwara area of the district was going towards his tubewell in the morning when he was shot at by some criminals. He died on the spot," Baghpat Superintendent of Police Ajay Kumar Singh said.

"A police team rushed to the spot upon getting the news. So far, no complaint has been registered. Prima facie it (reason behind the killing) seems to be enmity. Khokhar was hit by bullets on the head and in the chest. Police teams have been formed to crack the case," he said. Khokhar was the district president of the BJP for three years and was removed from the post before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In view of the incident, opposition Congress attacked the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government over the law and order situation, dubbing it as “jungle raj”.

“A BJP politician out for morning walk killed. Jungle raj. A morning begins with the news of murder in UP. And the liar CM claims the state has become crime-free,” the UP Congress tweeted in Hindi. According to officials, the body has been sent for postmortem and an FIR registered at the Chhaprauli Police Station in Baghpat in this connection. Meanwhile, Director General, UP Police, H C Awasthy said the Station House Officer (SHO) of the local Chhaprauli Police Station has been suspended in the wake of the incident.

"In view of the murder of former district president of the BJP Sanjay Khokhar, instructions have been issued to suspend SHO Chhaprauli with immediate effect for inability to stop crime," the state police chief tweeted in Hindi. 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)