An RTI activist and leader of an anti-liquor movement, Abhimanyu Panda, 54, was shot dead in broad daylight in Odisha’s Kandhamal district on Tuesday.
Police sources said the incident occurred on Tuesday morning near Patra Street under Baliguda police station limits. The victim was standing in front of his house when two assailants on a motorbike fired at him from close range and sped away.
The bullets pierced Panda’s chest. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead. The body has been sent for post-mortem, said the police. The motive behind the killing is yet to be ascertained and efforts are on to nab the assailants, the police added.
Angry over the incident, a group of protesters blocked a road in Baliguda. The blockade was lifted following a promise of strict action by the police.
Panda was a former sarpanch of Bataguda gram panchayat and ex-vice-chairman of Baliguda block. Senior social activist Kailash Dandapat said Panda’s death is a great loss for the anti-liquor movement in Baliguda.
