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Updated: May 28, 2019 07:37 IST

Surendra Singh, a former village head of Amethi, was killed due to local political rivalry, Uttar Pradesh police said on Monday. Singh had campaigned for BJP’s Smriti Irani during the Lok Sabha elections.

The police said that three people have been arrested in connection with the murder. “We have arrested three suspects. Two suspects are still absconding and we will nab them soon. On the basis of all evidence, it is very clear that this is a case of local level political rivalry,” said OP Singh, UP director general of police (DGP).

Surendra Singh was shot by bike-borne assailants outside his house on Saturday night, the police said. He was sent to a hospital where doctors declared him dead.

The police initially said they were looking into the possibility of personal enmity as the motive for the crime but the family of the deceased alleged that it was a political killing.

Smriti Irani reached Amethi’s Barauliya village on Sunday afternoon and attended the last rites of 50-year-old Surendra Singh. The new Amethi MP also promised swift action against those involved in the killing. “I have taken an oath before Surendra Singh ji’s family -- the one who fired and the one who ordered it -- even if I have to go to Supreme Court to get the culprits a death sentence, we will knock the doors of the court,” she said.

Also read: Smriti Irani plays pall-bearer for Amethi aide, vows to hunt down attackers

Irani had defeated Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, his party’s traditional stronghold, in the Lok Sabha polls that the BJP-led NDA swept, winning 353 of the 542 seats.

The victim’s son, Abhay Pratap Singh, had said his father recently had an argument with some Congress supporters. The brother of the deceased, Rajendra Singh, alleged it was a political killing. He said his brother wielded influence in the area which led to his murder.