Rakesh Jha, a businessman with alleged links with coal-smuggling trade, was killed on Saturday evening when two unidentified goons fired bullets at him as he was seated in his SUV outside an eatery on NH2 at Shaktigarh near Burdwan.

Police said 55-year-old Jha, popularly known as Raju, was declared dead on arrival at Burdwan Medical College and Hospital. Jha, who was travelling from Durgapur to Calcutta, was sitting in the front seat when six bullets were fired at him. Another person seated behind in the SUV, Andal resident Bratin Mukherjee, suffered bullet injuries in his hand but was released after primary treatment.

Police said the goons fired six bullets into Jha’s chest and he died instantly.

Jha, a resident of Durgapur, owned several businesses, including a luxury hotel. He joined the BJP in the presence of the then party state president Dilip Ghosh before the 2021 Assembly polls. Cases of coal-smuggling were also lodged against him in some police stations in West Burdwan, Bankura and Jharkhand.