Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath has announced that a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each will be given to the families of two businessmen brothers who were shot dead in Pratapgarh. The two brothers were shot dead for not paying 'extortion' money.

Shyam Sunder Jaiswal (55) and Shyam Murat Jaiswal (48) were shot by unidentified bike-borne assailants yesterday around 8 pm, officials said.

"The CM while condoling the death has announced compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to the victim's family.

"He has directed authorities to work out the case on priority and initiate action against the lax police officers," an official spokesman said here.

The victims were in the business of building materials. Their family members alleged that the two were getting extortion calls over the past few days, they added.

This comes at a time when director general of police, OP Singh, had claimed that cases of kidnappings and extortions had gone down in the state.

In view of the incident, Kohandaur police station SHO Nagendra Singh Nagar was suspended, officials said.

Meanwhile, locals protested the killings on the Allahabad-Faizabad highway, causing a traffic jam.