Police are investigating the fatal shooting of a 71-year-old former mafia boss on a motorway near Grenoble in south-eastern France.

Jean-Pierre Maldera, described by French media as a “godfather” of the local mafia in the 1980s, was reportedly chased in his car and shot as he travelled up the A41 motorway on Wednesday morning.

The shooters fled the scene and the burnt-out remains of the stolen Renault Megane car they were driving was found in a Grenoble parking lot shortly after.

His death comes ten years after the disappearance of his younger brother, Robert Maldera, another mafia boss reportedly nicknamed “the madman” by members of Grenoble’s criminal underworld.

Regional newspaper Le Dauphiné Libéré reported Maldera left the BMW he was driving and attempted to escape on foot across the motorway.

He was chased and killed by the assailants in the attack involving three or four gunmen, local media said.

They are reported to have used a military-grade weapon, such as a Kalashnikov rifle, to carry out the killing.

Maldera is reported to have been a key figure in the so-called “Italo-Grenoblois” mafia group during the 1980s and 1990s, along with his brother Robert.

In 2004, the pair were found guilty of a series of offences linked to organised crime, though they were released the following year due to an administrative error, according to the French media.

However, this was not the first time Maldera had been convicted. He had a rap sheet stretching back to the 1970s, according to French regional media outlet France 3.

But Maldera appeared to opt for a quieter life after his release from prison in the early 2000s, with AFP news agency reporting the authorities did not hear of him again until his shooting this week.

It is not clear if Maldera was still involved in criminal activity at the time of his death.

His brother Robert disappeared in 2015 at the age of 55.

He went missing after attending a meeting on the outskirts of Grenoble. His car was discovered two months later in a parking lot nearby.

A source who had investigated the Maldera brothers told France 3 that Jean-Pierre had been the brain behind their schemes, while Robert had been the brawn.