Bhubaneswar, June 13: Tension prevailed at Bhapur in Nayagarh district today as panchayat samiti member Gurubaru Kanhar was lynched by his rivals outside the local tehsil office.

Eyewitnesses said the 55-year-old Congress leader was on his way to the Bhapur panchayat samiti office on a motorcycle from Fategarh at 10.45am when a four-wheeler hit his motorcycle from behind. As he fell, a group of youths began beating him up with sharp weapons.

A profusely bleeding Kanhar was rushed to Bhapur community health centre, where doctors declared him dead. The attack is believed to be the fallout of a political rivalry between two groups.

Nayagarh police chief Seshadev Mallick said raids had been conducted on the houses of the accused and investigation had begun.

Kanhar, a former panchayat samiti chairman, was earlier in the BJD. But, he was elected as a panchayat samiti member with Congress support in the last rural polls.