LUCKNOW, India - A Muslim legislator in India's most populous state was shot and killed by a Hindu gunman during a political rally Wednesday. Police said the slaying was unrelated to the religious rioting in western India.
Manzoor Ahamad of the Samajwadi Party was standing in a large crowd of party workers when the gunman accosted him and fired, the police said.
The gunman, identified as Abhishek Bhardwaj, was immediately caught by other people in the crowd and beaten up before being handed over to police.
Police are still "trying to establish the motive of the killing. It looks like there is some personal animosity," police Deputy Inspector General D.S. Singh told The Associated Press.
The shooting occurred outside the governor's house in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state.
The secular Samajwadi Party won the highest number of seats in the recent legislative elections in the state, but not enough to form a majority government. The party rally was called to demand that the governor allow it to form a coalition government.
Police said the killing had nothing to do with the Hindu-Muslim riots in the western Gujarat state, which left 602 people dead since Wednesday