Agra:

on Thursday

10.45 am

In a late evening development,

police arrested the main accused in the case.

The VHP 's city unit vice-president Arun Mahor was shot dead in a busy marketplace after he was accosted by five assailants, one of whom pumped a bullet from a country-made gun into the back of his head from close range.Moments after the murder took place at aboutin Mantola, a commercial hub, VHP men and Mahor's supporters started spilling out into the streets in large numbers, forcing the police to resort to lathicharge. The situation deteriorated rapidly, with a worried administration rushing seven companies of the PAC, aided by 300 policemen, to contain the violence.Police have registered a murder case against main accused Shahrukh and four others. Later in the day, cops arrested three men alleged to be involved in the killing, Raja, Imtiaz and Abid, and have launched a massive hunt for the other two.Mahor was attacked as he was returning to his shop, near his ancestral house in Mantola, after performing his daily prayers at a local temple. According to eyewitnesses, there was a brief altercation with the accused before Shahrukh whipped out a gun and sent a bullet crashing through Mahor's head.Local residents TOI spoke to claimed that two days earlier Mahor had got involved in a fight over the issue of cow slaughter and that Shahrukh had "openly threatened him".Mahor's brother Vinod Kumar, who was with the VHP man when he died, said Shahrukh and his associates attacked both of them without any provocation. “We were walking home from the temple, minding our own business when these people started hurling abuses and mocked my brother,” alleged Kumar. “Even before we could react, they pounced on us and while Shahrukh shot Arun in the head, his associates started beating me up.”