According to sources, CPI-ML leader Baharuddin Sheikh (46) was returning home on a cycle when motorcycle-borne miscreants intercepted and shot him at close range near Dhananjaypur.

Sheikh was rushed by locals to the Nakashipara block hospital and then to Shaktinagar district hospital, where they were advised to take him to Kolkata.

Sheikh, who suffered three bullet wounds in his abdomen, died on the way.

According to a police officer, the victim has given some information. “We are not ruling out criminal or political reasons,” said Nadia SP Champak Bhattacharjee.

Meanwhile, in North 24-Parganas, miscreants shot a Trinamool worker, Utpal Das (28), who they picked up from his home at Deopul in Gaighata last night. Das’s bullet-ridden body was later found from a place called Duma.

Jyotipriyo Mullick, Trinamool”s observer in the district, blamed the CPM for the murder.