In a major embarassment before the forthcoming assembly polls, Chief Minister Ajit Jogi has been named as a suspect in the murder of Ram Avtar Jaggi, treasurer of the Nationalist Congress Party's Chhattisgarh unit.
Jaggi was late on Wednesday night shot dead by unidentified gunmen in capital Raipur, a senior police official said on Thursday.
In a complaint lodged with the police, Jaggi's son has reportedly named Jogi and his son Amit as suspects.
"Jaggi was shot around midnight near the Mohdapara police station when he was returning home. The gunmen were in a four-wheeler," Senior Superintendent of Police (Raipur) Mukesh Gupta told PTI.
"On getting information about the incident, SHO of the Mohdapara police station B K Pandey rushed to the spot and took Jaggi, who received bullet injuries on the right side of the chest, to the Medical College Hospital, where he was declared dead," Gupta said.
Since Pandey was the first to reach the spot and hence, filed the First Information Report, he added.
Jaggi was a close confidante of the party's state president V C Shukla, who is a former Congress leader. "We are calling a state-wide bandh on Friday to protest Jaggi's killing," Shukla told reporters in Raipur.
In a complaint to the police, Jaggi's son Satish has alleged that Chief Minister Ajit Jogi and his son Amit were behind the murder, said NCP spokesman Pramod Choubey.
"Satish has said Jogi did not like Jaggi's association with Shukla and on May 11, the chief minister had threatened his (Satish) father with dire consequences," Choubey said adding Satish has demanded that his complaint be treated as an FIR.
Inspector General (Raipur) Ram Niwas, however, said Satish's complaint has been attached to the SHO's report, which will be treated as the FIR.