Khargone: 35-year-old Seasgaon block Congress vice president on Monday shot dead by three bike-borne assailants when he was at banks of river Narmada to take a dip.Police suspect that the victim Roop Singh Gujar could have been killed over an old sand mining rivalry."Gujar along with another person on a four-wheeler had gone to take a dip in Narmada river when three persons at village Pitambli under Karahi police station limits approached them and fired several shots at him," Karahi police station in-charge MK Dubey told TOI.With the firing Gujar fell unconscious. Then, the trio attacked him by a sharp weapon and brutally hit on his head with a stone till he died, said Dubey.Asked what could be the motive behind the killing, Khargone superintendent of police D Kalyan Chakravarthy said, "We have received some information that a man Shriram Gujar, who was arrested for murder of Gujar's father Man Singh over a sand mining rivalry and later released on bail, is involved in killing of Gurjar. However, the motive behind the murder is yet not clear.The assailants did not attack the person accompanying Gujar and three other kids, who were at the banks of the river. A heavy police force was deployed at the spot after villagers informed about the incident. The police recovered a country made pistol, a cartridge and a police cap from the spot, said sources.Villagers, who gathered at the spot didn't allow police to send the body for post mortem and protested for almost three hours. They alleged that even after several complaints of illegal sand mining police and mining department didn't take any action and Gujar's murder was fallout of it.They villagers let the police send the body for post mortem only after Barwah sub divisional officer (police) MS Thakur and Khargone additional superintendent of police reached the spot and assured them for proper inquiry and arrest of the accused.Meanwhile, ex-Rajya Sabha MP Vijayalaxmi Sadho reached government hospital, where the body was sent. She also accused police of not taking proper action and demanded action against officials concerned."Post mortem examination has been performed and body has been handed over to kin. The accused will be arrested soon," SDOP Thakur told TOI.

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