Saifuddin Sheikh, a 61-year-old Congress leader in Malda, was gunned down by suspected Trinamool supporters in a market on Sunday morning.

Eyewitnesses said that a gang of four to five criminals, whose faces were masked, first threw a couple of crude bombs at Saifuddin at the local market in Dharampur under Manikchak block.

As one of the bombs exploded near Saifuddin, he got injured.

The attackers then moved closer, fired three to four rounds at Saifuddin and fled the spot.

An injured and bleeding Saifuddin was rushed to the block hospital in Manikchak where the doctor on duty pronounced him brought dead.

The deceased was a resident of Jisharattola village which is under Gopalpur panchayat of the block.

Kornel Sheikh, the deceased's son, said his father had gone to the market for shopping like any other day.

“Around 9am, he went near the local Congress office where he had parked his two-wheeler. At that time, he was attacked. We suspect that he was killed by the henchmen of Sheikh Nasir,” said the son.

Nasir is the Trinamool president of Gopalpur panchayat area.

Three others who were near Saifuddin also got injured by the bombs aimed at him.

The trio were identified as Md Rakib Momin, Sumit Mishra and Chhoton Pal. All of them are under treatment at the Manikchak block hospital.

Sources said that Saifuddin was with Trinamool earlier and was also elected the head of Gopalpur panchayat twice.

In 2018, he was elected as a member of the Manikchak panchayat samiti.

However, in 2022, Saifuddin defected to the Congress following a factional feud.

Since then he and Nasir of Trinamool had been at loggerheads over various issues.

As the news of the murder spread, district Congress president Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury and some other party leaders went to Dharampur. They staged a blockade on the Malda-Manikchak state highway for nearly two hours with the body.

Later, the police persuaded them to lift the blockade. Saifuddin's body was sent for an autopsy to the Malda Medical College and Hospital.

Nasir, the Trinamool leader, denied the charges.

"I have no connection with the murder. Some people are trying to implicate me in the case with political intentions. I believe the police will find out the truth,” Nasir said.

Officers at the Manikchak police station said they received a complaint from Saifuddin's family.

“A murder case has been registered and our officers are probing it,” said a police officer.