Ranchi: Unidentified persons slit the throat of a BJP member and manager of a sand mining site while he was sleeping on the terrace of his home in the intervening night between Friday and Saturday at Godda's mufassil thana area, some 7km from town and 370km from the capital.

Mufassil area woke up in shock to learn Shankar Rai, 60, who worked for a Rajasthan-based sand mining firm and was socially influential as a BJP leader, had been brutally killed in sleep. Scores demanded early arrest of culprits, ascribing the murder to rivalry among sand mining groups though Godda SP Rajeev Ranjan Singh said it would be too premature to comment on the motive. However, the SP promised a speedy probe.

BJP's Godda MLA Amit Kumar Mandal, who took an active interest in the case, thanked the SP but also demanded an FIR be lodged against district transport officer and district mining officer, alleging these officers were hand-in-glove with the sand mafia. "Illegal sand mining should stop immediately in tune with National Green Tribunal directives," he said, adding this bred criminals and lawlessness in the area.

Curbing illegal mining of materials clubbed as minor minerals, especially sand and stone, is an important challenge for the state.

But, SP Singh said in this specific case, the Rajasthan company for which the deceased worked had a legally valid sand mining lease. "We are trying to find out if Rai had any personal enmity or fell prey to nefarious designs by his employer's business rivals. At this juncture, the district transport officer and district mining officer cannot be held responsible," the SP said.

Rai stayed close to the site. His family did not stay there.

Rai's company has promised Rs 9 lakh as compensation.