The body of a man, with a bullet wound in the head, was recovered from the front seat of an SUV parked by NH2 on Saturday evening in Jamuria near Asansol.

Police, acting on a tip-off by residents, recovered the body and sent it for post-mortem to Asansol district hospital. Doctors there said the victim had been shot in the head at least an hour before he was brought in.

The police said the deceased, Rajender Shaw, 40, lived in Ranisayar village nearby and was involved in land dealings. His body was found at Chanda More crossing on NH2 within Jamuria police station limits around 5pm.

The police found one bullet shell at the spot. Prima facie, the police said that assailants shot Shaw from outside the vehicle.

As the news spread, BJP workers claimed Shaw was their party worker. Led by local BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul, they blocked the highway in protest.

"Rajender (Shaw) was our party worker. He had cancer. He was shot dead by Trinamul-backed goons ahead of panchayat polls in order to terrorise our party workers," said Paul.

Shaw's killing comes close on the heels of the murders of hoteliers Rajesh a.k.a Raju Jha of Durgapur and Arvind Bhagat of Asansol.

Jha, alleged to have links with the coal mafia, was shot dead in Shaktigarh on April 1. Bhagat was shot dead in his hotel on February 17. Both these murders are unsolved. Earlier this month, the bloodied body of a trucker was also found at the spot where Shaw's body lay on Saturday.

"We are probing all cases very seriously and will soon get a breakthrough," said a police officer.