Gopal Khemka, a businessman who was associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party, was shot dead near his home in Patna on Friday, The Indian Express reported.

His death comes six years after his son Gunjan Khemka, a former convenor of the Bihar BJP’s small industries cell, was killed in a similar manner.

Gopal Khemka was shot dead around 11.40 pm on Friday near Ram Gulam Chowk in Patna’s Gandhi Maidan area as he was getting out of his car. He was allegedly shot at close range by unidentified assailants on a bike, The Hindu reported.

The businessman was taken to a hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.

A forensic team was called to the scene of the alleged crime, City Superintendent of Police (Central) Diksha said, adding that a bullet and a shell casing were recovered, The Indian Express reported.

A special task force has been formed to investigate the killing.

Following the incident, the Opposition Congress claimed that Bihar under the ruling BJP-Janata Dal (United) government had become a “haven” for criminals. Party MP Pappu Yadav said that the killing was an instance of “goondaraj in Bihar”.

Yadav said that when Gunjan Khemka was killed, he had assured the family of justice. “If the government had taken strict action against the criminals then, Gopal Khemka would not have been killed today… But in this cruel maha gundaraj, no one is safe,” he said on X.

Gunjan Khemka, who was the proprietor of GK Cotton Mill, was shot dead by a bike-borne man in 2018 near his factory gate in the Hajipur Industrial Estate area in Vaishali district, the Hindustan Times reported.

On Sunday, the Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal also criticised Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s government on Gopal Khemka’s killing, alleging that the law and order in the state had completely collapsed.

“Nitish Kumar is in an unconscious state and the bureaucrats have totally captured him,” Rashtriya Janata Dal spokesperson Ejaz Ahmed said, The Hindu reported. “He does not know what is happening around him.”