A BJP leader was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat district while he was out for a morning walk on Tuesday.

Police said four attackers fired four bullets on Sanjay Khokhar at Chhaprauli while he was walking in his agricultural field, and fled.

“He had gone to his agricultural field at around 6.30am. He was walking on the elevated divider between the fields when four persons hiding there opened fire. Khokhar received one bullet in his head and another in his chest and was declared brought dead at the hospital. We have formed several teams to identify and arrest the killers,” said Baghpat superintendent of police Ajay Kumar Singh.

Khokhar, 52, was a former district president of the BJP. The villagers said no candidate could win the panchayat election in Chhaprauli without the support of Khokhar. The deceased had joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh 20 years ago and was a BJP member for the last 15 years. Khokhar was also a government school teacher.

There are framed pictures of Khokhar with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath at his residence.

A villager said Khokhar was preparing to contest the Lok Sabha election from Baghpat. This is the 8th murder of a Sangh parivar leader in Uttar Pradesh in three years.