A leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party was shot dead by three unidentified, motorcycle-borne assailants in Khatauli town in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district on Wednesday.

The deceased, Raja Valmiki, had stepped out of his house in the morning when the assailants shot him in the head. He died on the spot. Irate locals blocked the Delhi-Dehradun national highway in Khatauli to protest against the murder.

Police have sent Valmiki’s body for a postmortem examination.