Former state minister shot dead in India

AHMEDABAD: Gunmen shot dead a former state government minister from the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday in India’s volatile Gujarat state, police said.

Haren Pandya, who served as interior and revenue minister in the state government until last year, was shot in his car in Ahmedabad.

“He was shot in the chest and neck,” a police officer said, adding that police were checking a motorcycle found abandoned near the car. “We don’t know the motives. We are pursuing all angles,” he said without giving details.

Pandya had fallen foul of in fighting in the BJP, and was dropped by Modi in the last election. Hundreds of supporters of Pandya gathered outside the hospital where he was brought after the shooting, shouting slogans against Modi.

Gujarat’s additional chief secretary Ashok Narayan said that authorities were taking precautions to prevent violence.

The BJP’s state president, Rajendra Singh Rana, said it was too early to speculate on the identity or motives of the gunmen.

“It’s unfortunate, but let’s not jump to any conclusions and create a situation which will create a law-and-order problem,” he said. —Reuters

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