Nityanand Rai, a BJP MLA from Hajipur, is under the police scanner after former minister Motilal Kanan accused him of hatching a conspiracy to murder his son Atul Kanan.

Atul (28), the state secretary of Samajwadi Party Yuvjan Sabha, was shot dead by unidentified men while returning to his Dakbungalow Chowk residence from his in-law’s place at Veer Kuer Singh Colony in Hajipur, about 20km north of Patna, late on Saturday.

According to the FIR lodged with the Hajipur Town police, the assailants fired upon Atul as soon as he reached Dakbungalow Chowk on a motorcycle around 8.30pm. Atul’s brother-in-law, Adarsh Kumar, was riding the bike with Atul riding pillion. Of two bullets fired by the assailants, one hit Atul on the head, leaving him grievously injured.

Shocked by the firing, Adarsh lost balance of the motorcycle and Atul fell to the ground. He was rushed to the local sadar hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead.

The senior Kanan alleged that Nityananand Rai had threatened his son, a property dealer, with dire consequences a few days ago following a dispute over a plot of land at the BJP leader’s native village of Karanpura.

“The ruling party MLA hatched the conspiracy to eliminate my son,” Motilal, a former Lok Dal leader, alleged in the complaint. A minister in 1979, Motilal Kanan was twice elected to the Assembly from Hajipur. He did not rule out the involvement of contract killers. “It is up to the police to probe the case from all angles and bring the truth to the fore,” he told The Telegraph over phone from Hajipur.

Hajipur Sadar sub-divisional police officer Kailash Prasad said MLA Rai’s role was being probed and action would be initiated against him on the basis of evidence. “The deceased’s father has named the MLA (Rai) as an accused in the written complaint submitted to Hajipur Town police station,” he said.

Efforts to contact Nityanand Rai proved futile as he did not take any calls from The Telegraph.

Sources close to the family of the deceased said Atul had entered into an agreement to purchase about 2 acres of land at Karanpura village.

Rai was reportedly unhappy with the dealings as his rival Lalbabu Rai, an influential property dealer close to a local RJD leader, had invested a huge amount of money in the business.

Rai had called Atul three days ago and threatened him with dire consequences if he did not distance himself from the deal, relatives of the deceased said.

Atul was the sixth son of Motilal, who unsuccessfully contested the last Assembly election from Hajipur.

Shocked by the incident, residents took to the streets of the district headquarters town on Sunday morning.

An irate mob and supporters of the former minister blocked the road near Ramashish Chowk, paralysing the movement of vehicles on two main roads leading to Patna from Muzaffarpur and Saran.The protesters were demanding the arrest of Atul’s killers.

Vaishali superintendent of police Suresh Prasad Choudhary had to face the wrath of protesters when he tried to pacify them.

The protesters pelted stones on vehicles at Ramashish Chowk, damaging the windscreens of at least five vehicles. Shopkeepers and businessmen downed shutters in protest.

Security forces were deployed at sensitive places to thwart any untoward incident in the district headquarters town of Vaishali.