Naba Kisore Das, the Health and Family Welfare Minister of the Indian state of Odisha, was shot by a policeman and died of his wounds, local media reported.

Naba Kisore Das was shot and killed by a policeman named Gopal Das in the western Odisha city of Brajrajnagar when he got out of his car to wave to supporters before opening his local office, The Hindu reported.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences on the death of Naba Kisore Das.

The police told the newspaper that the shots were fired at close range around 12:10pm local time. A police inspector and a constable immediately intervened and detained the attacker.

Naba Kisore Das was hospitalized, but died in the hospital.

The doctors found that a bullet had passed through the minister's body, which damaged the heart and left lung and caused massive internal bleeding, the hospital said in a statement.

The police did not give details about the motives of the murder.

Naba Kisore Das was engaged in politics since 2009. He was one of the richest politicians of Odisha state.