Hyderabad, Sept. 4 :    Hyderabad, Sept. 4:  Naxalites of the banned People?s War Group struck on election-eve, gunning down a top Andhra Pradesh police official, Umesh Chandra, at the busy Sanjivreddynagar crossing this morning. Chandra?s bodyguard and driver were also killed. A red alert has been sounded and the government has announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for information on the assailants. The 33-year-old Chandra, who was assistant inspector-general of police (welfare and sports), was a distant relative of chief minister Chandrababu Naidu. His assailants came riding on motorbikes and fired at his car when it stopped at a traffic signal, police said. The volley of bullets first hit driver Satyanarayana and then security guard Ramachandra Reddy. Chandra managed to clamber out of the car and tried to escape, but at such close range he stood no chance. The daring attack comes just a day before the state goes to polls. As in the past, the PWG has called for a ballot boycott. The murdered officer was earlier superintendent of police at the Naxalite-infested Karimnagar and faction-ridden Cuddapah districts. He is survived by his wife and son. During his tenure in Karimnagar, he is supposed to have effectively checked Naxalite activities, particularly their practice of holding praja courts. Chandra is the second IPS officer to be shot dead in Hyderabad. DIG K.S. Vyas was killed in 1993 while jogging at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium here.