Chandigarh: A Congress leader was hacked to death with an axe by two unidentified assailants in Punjab’s Ludhiana district, police said.

Parminder Tiwari, Machhiwara Congress block president, had put up rental quarters for the migrant workers.

The two unidentified assailants came on a motorcycle and attacked Tiwari while he was sitting on a chair on Sunday, March 29, evening. He suffered severe head injuries and was rushed to the hospital, but succumbed, Station House Officer, Kum Kalan, Paramdeep Singh, told PTI over the phone.

“A case has been registered and an investigation has been launched. Efforts are on to nab the accused. The motive of the crime is under investigation,” Singh said.

Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring lashed out at the Bhagwant Mann government over the incident, alleging the state’s law and order situation continues to deteriorate.

“Deeply shocked and saddened by the daylight murder of our Block President from Machiwara Sahib, Parminder Tiwari ji. He was a hardworking and integral part of the @INCPunjab family, and his loss is deeply felt. My heartfelt condolences to his family in this hour of grief,” Warring said in a post on X.

“Punjab’s law and order situation continues to deteriorate, yet the @AAPPunjab government remains asleep at the helm,” he said.

Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa said, “The cold-blooded assassination of our Block President Parminder Tiwari ji in broad daylight at Machiwara Sahib is not just murder, it’s a damning indictment of Punjab’s descent into lawlessness”.

“A dedicated Congress worker who gave his life to public service has been killed while @BhagwantMann’s government sits in shameful silence. My deepest condolences to his family, who have lost not just a loved one,” Bajwa said in a post on X.