A gang of 10 suspected Maoists raided the house of 45-year-old Palan Kumar and called him out late on Tuesday night.
As Kumar stepped out, the assailants pounced on him and tied him to a tree before pumping bullets into his body, police said.
The suspected Maoists then fled towards Jharkhand border, they added.
CPI-M sources said that the leader had been on the hit list of the Maoists for sometime.
The party's local unit has called a six-hour bandh in the Balarampur police station area in which the village falls, close to Jharkhand border, police said.