Aam Aadmi Party leader Gurpreet Singh Gopi was shot dead by armed attackers in Mamdot town in India’s Punjab. Police said Gopi was travelling on a motorcycle with a man named Harpreet when attackers in a car opened fire on them. Gopi was killed in the shooting.

Firozpur Senior Superintendent of Police Bhupinder Singh Sidhu said there had been a pre-existing dispute between two sides. Preliminary investigators are treating an election-related dispute as one of the main possible motives for the attack. Sidhu said the main accused has a history of involvement in criminal activities.

Police have identified the attackers and multiple teams are working to arrest them, Sidhu said. Several friends were following Gopi and Harpreet in another vehicle at the time, and police said the attackers also fired at that car. Investigators are examining why that vehicle was targeted and how the incident unfolded. Search operations and raids are under way in different parts of Punjab to apprehend the suspects.