New Delhi - Unidentified gunmen shot dead the editor of a newspaper in India's north-eastern state of Assam, police said Wednesday.

Anil Majumdar, executive editor of the Assamese daily Aji, was shot seven times on his chest, outside his home in state capital Guwahati on Tuesday night.

"The attackers who came in a car fled from the spot soon after the killing. Majumdar was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him dead," police official GP Singh said.

Local news channels said Majumdar had been writing in favour of the Assam government holding negotiations with the state's major militant group United Liberation Front of Asom.

The killing sent shockwaves in the region where campaigning for the general elections as due to start.

Social and political groups condemned the attack while journalists planned to hold a protest rally later on Wednesday.

Several separatist groups are active in Assam. According to official data, more than 10,000 people have been killed in the insurgency in the state over the past two decades. (dpa)