A Bahujan Samaj Party leader and his nephew were allegedly shot dead at their office in Najibabad town of Bijnor district on Tuesday afternoon.
The Bijnor police said Haji Ehsan, party in-charge of the Najibabad unit, was also involved in property business.
On Tuesday, when he was sitting in his office with his nephew Shadab, three unidentified assailants arrived there and allegedly fired at them from close range. Both were taken to a private hospital but were declared dead on arrival.
Ruling out a political angle, Bijnor Additional SP (City) Laxmi Niwas Mishra said : “Preliminary investigation has revealed it to be a case of business rivalry. Around 2.45 p.m., two unidentified youths entered the office with a box of sweets. Their third accomplice was waiting outside on a motorcycle. Once inside, they took out a revolver and a pistol from the box and fired at the duo. Six to seven empty cartridges have been recovered from the spot. An FIR has been registered and four teams have been put on task.”
Mr. Mishra added that Haji Ehsan had a criminal record. Bijnor Circle Officer Arun Kumar Singh said Haji was earlier jailed under Section 120B of the IPC for giving protection to dreaded criminal Ajmal Pahadi, and was out on bail.
In a separate incident, former Samajwadi Party MP from Bulandshahr Kamlesh Valmiki was found dead at his residence in Khurja on Monday. Local police said it was a case of poisoning as the body had turned blue.
