Balachaur/Mohali: Kabaddi player and promoter Digvijay Singh, popularly known as Rana Balachauria, was cremated on Tuesday at his ancestral village near Balachaur amid deep mourning and grief. The final rites were held at the cremation ground in Chankoya village, where his younger brother Ranvijay lit the funeral pyre.
A large gathering of sports lovers, relatives and local residents accompanied the funeral procession, with many struggling to hold back their emotions. Earlier in the day, a post-mortem examination was conducted at Mohali Civil Hospital, following which the body was handed over to the family.
The killing has left Rana’s family devastated, particularly as he had entered into a love marriage with a woman from Dehradun on December 6, barely ten days before the incident. Medical findings revealed that the attackers fired at him from close range from behind, with the bullet passing through his head and exiting through the mouth, leading to instantaneous death.
Meanwhile, Mohali Police have claimed a significant breakthrough in the case. Addressing a press conference, Senior Superintendent of Police Harmandeep Singh Hans said the murder was allegedly carried out on the directions of Lucky Patial and Doni Bal, both associated with the Bambiha gang. The shooters have been identified as Aditya Kapoor and Karan Pathak, residents of Amritsar.
The SSP said Rana’s name had earlier figured in connection with gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpuria and that the killing was the outcome of an old rivalry. According to police, the attackers approached Rana during a kabaddi match in Sohana on Monday evening, pretended to be fans, stopped him under the pretext of taking a selfie and then opened fire.
Police have firmly denied any link between this murder and the Sidhu Moosewala case or his former manager Shaganpreet. Raids are being conducted at multiple locations to arrest the accused, officials said.
