Dehradun, June 6 (PTI) Two persons accused of killing local BJP leader Rohit Negi were arrested from Purkazi in Uttar Pradesh after an encounter, police said on Friday.

Azhar Tyagi and his accomplice Ayush Kumar alias Sikandar were arrested following a tip-off on Thursday night, Dehradun SSP Ajai Singh said.

The duo was spotted near Manglaur in Uttarakhand from where they were to proceed towards Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, the officer said.

When the accused saw a police team chasing them near Purkazi, they opened fire at it and tried to flee. However, they were arrested after sustaining gunshot injuries in retaliatory firing by the police, Singh said.

While Tyagi received gunshot wounds on his legs and one arm, Kumar was hit on his knees, the officer said.

There were instructions from Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to arrest the duo at the earliest, he added.

Negi, a former Mandal president of BJP’s Yuva Morcha, was shot inside his car when he was returning home with his friends past midnight on Tuesday after attending a party.

Tyagi, with whom Negi had an argument over phone during the party, allegedly came on a motorcycle along with Kumar and opened fire at the car from close range near Peepal Chowk in the Manduwala area of Prem Nagar.

One bullet pierced the windscreen of the car and hit Tyagi on the neck. His friends rushed him to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him dead. PTI ALM ARI