Purulia, June 26: Two members of the Adra-Raghunathpur branch committee of the CPM were shot dead this morning outside a tea stall at Beniasole in Adra, about 280 km from Calcutta.

District superintendent of police P. Siva Kumar rushed to Raghunathpur as tension simmered in the area. A 12-hour bandh has been called in the Raghunathpur sub-division tomorrow.

Branch committee members Mohammed Aslam, 47, and Ashis Roy, 44, were sitting outside the stall around 8.45 am when four persons on two motorcycles rode up to them and opened fire.

“Both died on the spot. Aslam was shot in the back while Roy was hit in the chest and head,” said Adra police station in-charge Arup Chakraborty. The assailants fled towards Raghunathpur.

“We received the information within 10 minutes and immediately alerted all the police stations in the district,” the police officer said. Though guards were posted at all the road crossings, the killers could not be traced till late evening.

“Both Aslam and Roy were involved with the party for some time,” said Basudeb Acharia, CPM MP from Purulia.