Jaiswal's neck and back were riddled with bullets. A case has been registered against two unidentified assailants, one of whom is in police custody. The 48-year-old Jaiswal is survived by his wife and three sons.The deceased was shot from point-blank range with a single-round, country-made revolver called katta outside his Sisai residence-cum-medicine shop at around 7.30 p.m. He succumbed to his injuries on way to the hospital.

The two assailants were chased by Jaiswal's friends and relatives. While one of them managed to escape, the other was caught and was beaten up before being handed over to the police. A manhunt has been launched to nab the other attacker, Gumla Superintendent of Police M.H. Khansaid.

Reports published in local dailies today speculated that Jaiswal had been killed for defying the MCC poll boycott call and participating in the recent Lok Sabha elections. ``Jaiswal was on the MCC's hit list,'' these reports claimed.

But the police rule out the MCC's involvement and attribute the murder to Jaiswal's attempts to break the nexus between corrupt officials and middlemen in the area. According to them, the one alleged killer who has been arrested had confessed that this was the reason for the murder. Khan added: ``The middlemen who work on a commission basis in allotment of funds for construction of houses under the Government's Indira Awas Yojna are responsible for Jaiswal's murder.''