Lonavala (Maharashtra), May 26 (IANS) The civic chief of Lonavala township in Mahashtra was killed and another civic leader seriously wounded, when two unidentified persons barged into their office Tuesday afternoon and attacked them with swords and choppers, police said.
Lonavala Municipal Council chairman Bhupendra alias Raju Choudhary, of the Congress, was killed on the spot while education committee chairman Umesh Mudaliar, who was sitting in Choudhary’s office at the time, was also assaulted and seriously injured, senior police inspector S. Darekar said.

Mudaliar, of the Nationalist Congress party (NCP), is now battling for life at the nearby Parmar Hospital.

Darekar said that the incident occurred around 2.30 p.m. when most of the office staff had gone for a lunch break.

“Taking advantage of the situation, the assailants entered the LMC Building, located at Shivaji Chowk, opposite the city police station, attacked the two senior officials and fled from there,” Darekar said.

All shops and business establishments of Lonavala immediately downed shutters and observed a spontaneous shutdown. Famous for its chikkis (home-made fudge) and residential schools, it is the twin hill-station to Khandala, located 120 km south-west of Mumbai.

Security has been tightened at all entry and exit points to the hill-station and police are on the lookout for the assailants.

Choudhary (50) was the LMC chairman since more than two years, while NCP’s Mudaliar was also elected to the post around the same time, according to Darekar.

He said that preliminary investigations indicate an old property dispute, which could have led to Choudhary’s murder.