Chandigarh: Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) president Nafe Singh Rathi was among three persons shot dead on Sunday evening while two others were critically injured.
Rathi and his associates were travelling by car in Haryana’s Jhajjar district when their SUV came under attack.
Unidentified gunmen, who were in another car, suddenly opened fire.
Soon after the deadly firing, the attackers fled the scene.
The injured were rushed to the nearby Brahm Shakti Sanjivani hospital where former MLA Rathi was declared dead on arrival.
Rathi served as a two-time MLA of INLD from Bahadurgarh where the attack took place.
Even as state police is on the lookout for the culprits, the head of INLD’s media cell Rakesh Sihag confirmed Rathi’s death.
Initial inquiries suggest that a property dispute was the cause of the attack on Rathi.
Notorious gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and his close associate Kala Jathedi are suspected to be behind the attack, reported NDTV.
Rathi, who also served twice as chairman of Bahadurgarh Municipal Council, was in the news last year when a case of abetment to suicide was filed against him after the death of former Haryana minister Mange Ram Rathi’s son Jagdish Rathi.
Rathi was granted anticipatory bail by the high court on January 24, 2023.
