Patna, Oct 31 (IANS): A garment trader in Bihar's Begusarai district was shot dead in his shop on Monday, leading to protests by other traders and villagers.

The deceased was identified as Sunil Kumar Yadav, who had a shop at Fateh Chowk falling under Bachwara police station.

The eyewitness said that Yadav was inside the shop when around half a dozen armed men reached there and shot him. After committing the crime, they fled from the spot by firing in the air.

Local traders rushed to Yadav's aid and took him to the nearby hospital but he succumbed on the way.

Following the incident, the local traders and the villagers blocked NH 28 at Fateh Chowk and demanded immediate arrest of the accused, who had demanded extortion money from him.

In another incident, a former Mukhiya of Siwan's Sohgara Panchayat was shot at in his village. The local villagers rescued him and took him to a nearby hospital. The doctors of the hospital referred him to PMCH Patna for better treatment.

The victim, Baijnath Yadav is said to be closest to Bihar Assembly Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary.