Wrestler and Kabbadi promoter Kanwar Digvijay Singh, aka Rana Balachauria, was shot dead in Punjab’s Mohali on Monday during a match in Sohana. The shooting, carried out by two to three gunmen, happened as thousands of spectators watched.
According to reports, Balachauria, a 30-year-old Kabbadi promoter, was approached by the men on the pretext of taking selfies as the match was in progress. It was then they fired six to seven .32 calibre rounds at close range, hitting him multiple times in the head and face. Though he was rushed to the nearby hospital, he succumbed to injuries.
The shooters also fired into the air to disperse the crowd as they fled. “Fellow players rushed to aid him, but the wounds proved fatal,” Mohali SSP Harmandeep Singh Hans told reporters.
However, the murder brings to the fore deep-rooted gang wars in Punjab. Hours after the murder, gangster Dony Bal claimed responsibility for the attack.
A Facebook post from Bal read: “I, Donibal, Saganpreet, Mohabbat Randhawa, Amar Khabe, Prabh Daswal, and Kaushal Chaudhary, take responsibility for the killing of Rana Balachauria during the Kabaddi Cup in Mohali. This man (Rana) was in contact with our rivals Jaggu and Lawrence," the post read.
The Saganpreet gang is closely linked to the Bambiha or Gopi Ghanshampur factions.
"He had provided shelter to the killer of Sidhu Moosewala and personally looked after him. By killing Rana today, we have avenged the murder of our brother Sidhu Moosewala. This act was carried out by our brothers Makhan Amritsar and Defaulter Karan.”
While the police have not yet officially confirmed this claim, investigative agencies are also looking into it from a gang war perspective and trying to find out if the post is genuine or part of a conspiracy.
However, the incident isn’t an isolated one in Punjab’s kabaddi circuit. Earlier, players like Sandeep Nangal Ambian and Tejpal Singh have been victims of similar gang crossfire.
“The role of the Bambiha gang in this murder is suspected. The police have registered a case, and the footage of the CCTV cameras in the area is being searched. Along with this, technical surveillance has also been intensified to identify the attackers and track their movements,” a senior police official said.
