Lucknow, Nov 23 (IANS): The deputy jailor of Varanasi prison in Uttar Pradesh, Anil Tyagi, was shot dead Saturday, police said. Tyagi was getting off his car to enter a gymnasium near the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital when the waiting assailants fired at him.

Tyagi was hit by nine bullets. Before passersby could muster the courage to go near the injured official, the assailants sped away on a bike.

Police was informed immediately and they rushed the profusely bleeding official to hospital. He died on the way.

Police said Tyagi was a strict official who had enforced discipline in the jail. He was reportedly on the hit list of some criminals serving sentences in the jail.

"We are exploring all angles in this heinous crime and hope to get a breakthrough very soon," Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Varanasi Modak D. Rajeshwar Rao told IANS.

The political class reacted sharply to the killing of the official and accused the Akhilesh Yadav-led state government of "letting loose anarchy in the state".

Uttar Pradesh BJP spokesperson Vijay Bahadur Pathak said the killing did not shock him as it only reflected the "fast loosening grip of the chief minister on the state machinery and the fact that nobody was safe in the state".

"Nobody cares for the chief minister or listens to him. This government has simply lost the plot," he said.

Zeeshan Haider, spokesperson of the state unit of the Congress party, said the incident was unfortunate and sought the resignation of the Akhilesh government.

"Criminals are at large, shooting people. Officials and the state government are unable to control them. In a state where even officials are not safe, how can one expect the common man to be safe?" he said.