A leader of the Arya Samaj was shot dead by unknown assailants in Greater Noida on Thursday morning. Pramod Kumar, who had a milk business, was going to Bambavada village from Kudi Khera with three others in his jeep when the incident occurred.

According to an eyewitness, Kumar’s jeep was passing through the Kudikhera village when five motorcycle-borne assailants tried to stop them. Sensing trouble, the driver accelerated the vehicle, which instigated the assailants. “They followed the jeep and started firing indiscriminately at it,” a villager said.

Kumar, who was a well-known person in the area, died on the spot, while his companions were rushed to Naveen Hospital with grave injuries, the police said.

“The leader had a flourishing milk business in the region. News of his death came as shock to the people of his village,” Surendra Verma, SP (rural), said.

Few people alleged that the police jeep was only a few kilometres away from the crime spot, but the police denied it.

In August last year, Kumar’s brother Vinod alias Lala was also murdered. The accused in the crime have not been not arrested yet.