Village Panchayat member shot dead

A village Panchayat member in Thane district was shot dead by an unknown person near here, police said today.
The fatal attack on Santosh Bhoir took place around 8.30 last night, M K Patil, Senior Inspector of Manpada Police Station, said.
The 30-year-old deceased was a Panchayat member of Adavali village near Manpada.
The assailant called Bhoir out of his house on some pretext and when he stepped out, he fired at him from point blank range and fled, he said.
Bhoir was seriously injured and rushed to Metro Hospital in Kalyan, where he died while being treated shortly before midnight, police said.

The motive behind the murder was not yet known.
As per preliminary inquiry, there was only one attacker, who appeared to be in the age group of 25 to 30, they added.
Police have registered a murder case and also under the Arms Act and launched a manhunt for the killer.