A school teacher was shot dead by unidentified assailants on the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) campus, police said on Thursday.

AMU Proctor Mohammad Waseem Ali identified the victim as Rao Danish Ali, a teacher at ABK Union High School, which is affiliated with the university.

According to the proctor, the incident took place on Wednesday night when Rao Danish Ali was walking near the Kennedy Auditorium with two colleagues. “Some masked men accosted him and fired at him from point-blank range after briefly talking to him,” he told PTI.

He collapsed at the spot and was taken to the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival, Mohammad Waseem Ali said.

The shooting occurred after 9 pm. Rao Danish had gone to the AMU canteen for tea, which was part of his daily routine, he added.

Although the shooting was captured on CCTV cameras installed near the canteen, the footage was unclear due to darkness and fog, the proctor said.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Neeraj Kumar, along with other police personnel, rushed to the scene, and an alert was issued to trace the assailants.

Kumar told reporters late on Wednesday night that police had spoken to the victim’s family members and colleagues to determine the motive behind the killing.

Police are also scanning CCTV footage from surrounding areas to track the movement of the attackers, he said.