Considered Sahib Singh's right-hand man for years, Ved Singh had recently left the BJP to join the Samata-which has no alliance with the BJP in the November polls-when he was denied a ticket. He was also a prime witness in a murder case in which Sahib Singh's nephews are the main accused.

Ved Singh was killed when he was standing near his car at Saini Chaupla in the middle of the village at around 10.30 p.m. when a group of assailants drove up and shot at least 20 rounds of bullets, police said. Two of his associates were injured, one seriously.

Calling it a ``political murder,'' Ved Singh's father, Chaudhary Bhim Singh said: ``My son wasthreatened even till yesterday evening. The BJP had been warning him for days to withdraw his nomination because they knew he would eat into their votes.''

Samata Party general secretary Jaya Jaitley blamed a ``section of the BJP'' for the murder and demanded a CBI probe. Interestingly, it was Sahib Singh's rival, Madan Lal Khurana, who was the first from his party to comment: ``This kind of pre-poll violence happens in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh but such an incident in Delhi makes me hang my head in shame.'' In a veiled attack against his rivals in the party, he said that the murder wasn't surprising given ``the kind of elements'' who were being encouraged in the past few years.

Sahib Singh called a press conference and announced that he would be ``on a fast'' until the culprits were booked. ``I have personally met the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and George Fernandes (Samata chief) and have requested for a CBI inquiry,'' he said.

``The murder,'' he said, ``should be investigated from all anglesincluding the political angle. Even if my father or son is involved, they should be investigated.''

Meanwhile, there is tension in Mundka village. Police officials rushed there around midnight. Orders were issued for the deployment of three companies of the Delhi reserve police as officials expected trouble in the village where hundreds of people had gathered to protest against the killing.

Surprisingly, people who lived just near the garage in front of which Ved Singh was shot, say that they didn't see anything. One neighbour, Rajbir Singh Lakra, said: ``Since it's become cold these days we close all the doors. We didn't hear anything or see any suspicious people standing around here in the evening. It was only later, when I heard a lot of angry voices that I came to know what happened.''