Last rites of Kabaddi Promoter Rana Balachauria performed; Younger brother lights pyre
Babushahi Bureau
Balachaur/Mohali, December 16: Kabaddi player and promoter Digvijay Singh alias Rana Balachauria, who was shot dead during a kabaddi tournament in Mohali, was cremated on Tuesday at his ancestral village amid a pall of gloom. The last rites were performed at the cremation ground of village Chankoya near Balachaur, where his younger brother Ranvijay lit the funeral pyre.
A large number of sports enthusiasts, relatives, and local residents joined the funeral procession, many visibly emotional. Earlier in the day, a post-mortem examination was conducted at the Mohali Civil Hospital, after which the body was handed over to the family.
The tragedy has left the family shattered as Rana had married a woman from Dehradun in a love marriage on December 6, barely ten days before the incident. According to medical reports, the assailants fired at Rana from point-blank range from behind, with the bullet entering his head and exiting through the mouth, causing instantaneous death.
Meanwhile, Mohali Police have claimed a major breakthrough in the case. Addressing a press conference, SSP Harmandeep Singh Hans said the murder was allegedly executed on the instructions of Lucky Patial and Doni Bal of the Bambiha gang. The shooters have been identified as Aditya Kapoor and Karan Pathak, both residents of Amritsar.
The SSP added that Rana’s name had earlier surfaced in connection with gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, and the murder was the result of long-standing rivalry.
Police revealed that the assailants approached Rana posing as fans during a match in Sohana on Monday evening. They stopped him on the pretext of taking a selfie and then opened fire.
The police categorically denied any link between this murder and the Sidhu Moosewala case or his former manager Shaganpreet. Raids are ongoing to arrest the accused.