Kapilvastu, October 25:

Activists of the Sanyukta Janatantrik Tarai Mukti Morcha (SJTMM) gunned down Ram Milan Gupta, president of the Kapilvastu chapter of the VDC Secretaries’ Rights Protection Forum, in Badilahawa, Pipara VDC, today.

The SJTMM cadres also took IRs 50,000 from Gupta before the murder. Family of the victim said some people had been threatening Gupta over phone and seeking donations from him.

They gunned down Gupta while he had gone in Pipara to hand them the money, the family said.

Talking to journalists over phone, Shivale Gupta, a commander of the SJTMM, said his outfit killed Gupta because the latter was found to be “indulging in irregularities.”

Of the three assailants, Aaligathawa police of India arrested two — Gudu and Rohit Shah of Kapilvastu with weapons.