Kondagaon, Apr 19 (PTI) A local Congress leader was killed, and his relative was injured after a BJP worker rammed his car into their motorcycle in Chhattisgarh’s Kondagaon district, police said on Saturday.

Police have taken the accused into custody in connection with the accident that occurred near Dogri Guda village on Friday evening, an official said.

He said Hemant Bhoyar and his sister-in-law Champi were heading to the local market on a motorcycle when Purendra Kaushik, a BJP worker, rammed his car into their vehicle and fled the scene.

Bhoyar (30), a local leader of the Youth Congress, was a panch of the Mulmula village panchayat, and his sister-in-law was the sarpanch, the official said.

Kaushik had contested for the sarpanch’s post of Mulmula village but lost the election to Champi.

Locals rushed the injured persons to the hospital, where Bhoyar died during treatment, the official said.

The official said the police have taken Kaushik into custody, but no case has been registered, and a probe is underway.

Bhoyar’s family alleged that Kaushik killed him due to a rivalry following the panchayat elections.

The deceased man’s brother alleged, “Kaushik has been targeting him and even threatened him of dire consequences after the panchayat polls. Kaushik killed him when he got the opportunity on Friday.” Bhoyar’s family and Congress workers gathered at the police station, demanding Kaushik’s arrest on Friday night.

The Congress also staged a sit-in protest in front of the district hospital and national highway, alleging that Bhoyar’s murder was pre-planned.

Former minister Mohan Markam alleged that Kaushik had killed Bhoyar and injured the village sarpanch, and the police had arrested the accused following the intense protests of locals and Congress workers. PTI COR ARU