A photojournalist with a Hindi daily and his brother were shot dead in Saharanpur district on Sunday morning following an altercation over the disposal of cow dung, police said.

Ashish, 23, a photographer with Dainik Jagran newspaper, and his brother Ashutosh, 19, were killed by their neighbour Mahipal Saini and his sons, senior superintendent of police (Saharanpur) Dinesh Kumar P. said.

“In the midst of an argument, Mahipal and his sons entered the house of Ashish and Ashutosh and shot them. Residents rushed the duo to a nearby hospital, where the doctors declared them brought dead,” the SSP said.

Three teams have been formed to arrest the culprits who are absconding, he added.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each for the kin of the deceased.

The Samajwadi Party and the Congress slammed the ruling BJP over the alleged collapse of law and order and failure to provide adequate compensation.

“The chief minister has taken cognisance of the Saharanpur incident wherein the journalist of Dainik Jagran and his brother were shot dead by the assailants,” a statement issued here by a senior Uttar Pradesh government official said.

“SSP Saharanpur has been directed to initiate the strongest action. The state government stands by the bereaved family in this moment of grief,” the statement added.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav expressed grief over the deaths.