Mumbai, Feb 15 : Bhiwandi corporator Manoj Mhatre (Congress) was killed last night by masked assailants who shot at him and assaulted him with sharp knives. Narpoli police registered a murder case late in the night after he succumbed to his injuries.

The assailants ambushed Mhatre when he got home around 9 pm. "Mhatre's driver had dropped him near his house at Oswal Wadi. He was walking home when at least five persons attacked him with sharp knives and fired two rounds," said a cop. Mhatre breathed his last at Jupiter Hospital.

"One of the fired rounds hit his back and he succumbed to the injuries," said DCP Manoj Patil, Bhiwandi.

Mhatre was in his early 40s and was the leader of Congress in the Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation. Sources said he had a construction and infrastructure business, and an internal dispute might have led to the murder. Narpoli police and the Crime Branch put a city-wide nakabandi in place to catch the accused.

Caught on cam :