NEW DELHI: Police on Monday arrested three suspects believed to be behind the Saturday murder of the ex-village head and close aide of Smriti Irani , Surendra Singh .

Singh who was the former head of a village near Uttar Pradesh's Amethi was shot dead by unidentified gunmen on Saturday night.

"We have arrested three murder suspects. Two suspects are still absconding and we will nab them soon. On the basis of all evidence it is very clear that the five murder suspects and the victim had local level political rivalry," said OP Singh, UP DGP.

"As many as seven persons were taken into custody and they were interrogated. Among those, there were three who were linked with the incident," Singh said.

"As of now, two accused persons are still absconding and we are tracking them," the DGP said.

"Intitial probe has found accused Golu had fired the shots at Surendra Singh in Baraulia village while co-accused Ramchandra had played the role in hiding the country made weapon in a neighbourhood pond from where it has been recovered," UP cops told TOI.

"While three have been arrested, the two missing co-accused are repeatedly switching off their mobile phones frequently after changing locations between UP and Delhi," the cops said.

Following Singh's murder, Irani had vowed to bring the culprits to book and had asserted that she will not hesitate to move even the Supreme Court if necessary to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Praising Singh's efforts for the development of Amethi, she said, "I want to say that since 1977, Surendra Singh was living his life as an active worker and a leader who provided solutions to the people on issues of development. Unfortunately today, he has been killed after celebrating victory."

"A saddened BJP family salutes the bereaved soul. The family of 11 crore workers of BJP is standing with his family in this hour of grief," she said.

Surendra Singh (50), a former head of Baraulia village, around 25 km from the Amethi district headquarters, was shot at around 11.30 pm on Saturday. Singh was referred to a Lucknow hospital, but succumbed during treatment, Additional Superintendent of Police Daya Ram said.

Earlier, OP Singh had said seven people were taken into custody, adding that they were being interrogated.

