Authorities in Germany reportedly believe they may be dealing with a “second Skripal case” after a man was shot dead in broad daylight in a Berlin park.

A 49-year-old Russian man has been arrested on suspicion of murder over the incident, which was described by witnesses as an “execution-style killing”.

The victim has been identified as Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a 40-year-old Georgian Muslim who fought against Russia in the Second Chechen War and had links with Georgian intelligence.

Kangoshvili fled to Germany after surviving a previous assassination attempt in Georgia in 2015.

He was shot dead on Friday morning while walking through Berlin’s Kleintiergarten park on his way to pray in a local mosque.

Witnesses described how his assailant shot him twice in the head from behind before fleeing on a bicycle.

“There are indications this crime was planned and may have had political motives,” Martin Steltner, a spokesman for Berlin prosecutors said.

Police are believed to be investigating the possibility that Russian intelligence may have been behind the killing.

“If it turns out that a state player like Russia is behind this, we have a second Skripal case on our hands, with everything that entails,” Spiegel magazine quoted an unnamed source in German security circles as saying.