Pune: A 38-year-old local BJP leader was shot and hacked to death allegedly by a group of persons in broad daylight in Talegaon Dabhade, 35 km from here, today.
Sachin Shelke, former mayor of Talegaon municipal council, was travelling in his car when assailants waylaid him near a petrol pump at around 11 AM.
“The assailants asked Shelke to get down from the car and fired a round at him and then attacked him with sharp-edged weapons before fleeing,” Superintendent of Police Jai Jadhav said.
“An old enmity could be the reason behind the murder,” he said.
People who were around him, rushed him to a private hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.
The police have registered a case against 10 people, believed to be associates of Shyam Dabhade, who has criminal record and is absconding, the SP said.
Four suspects also have been detained.
Police also recovered CCTV footage from the spot and a manhunt has been launched to trace the remaining assailants.
In 2013, Shelke was attacked but survived. His brother and father too had survived similar attacks.
Situation in and around Talegaon was tense and heavy police force have been deployed there.
The town was in news for similar incident in 2010 when Satish Shetty, an RTI activist, was murdered while on morning walk.