Kabaddi player and promoter Rana Balachauria was critically injured after unidentified gunmen fired at him when he and his team arrived for a tournament in Mohali, PTI reported quoting police.
“Kabaddi player Rana Balachauria sustained bullet injuries in the incident. He was seriously injured and shifted to a private hospital in Mohali,” SSP Harmandeep Singh Hans told a news portal.
The incident took place in Mohali’s Sohana area during a private kabaddi tournament that was going on for several days.
How many attackers were involved?
SSP Hans told reporters that the assailants were two to three and carried out the attack before quickly fleeing the spot on a motorbike. The attackers have not yet been identified as the investigation is ongoing.
Some eyewitnesses gave their statements to the police and said that the assailants approached Rana on the pretext of clicking selfies but opened fire after some time.
The tournament was held on a crowded field with a large turnout. According to officials, a well-known Punjabi singer was also scheduled to attend the evening matches and distribute prizes.
Just as Rana reached the ground, the kabaddi player was stopped by attackers who asked for a selfie and was later shot dead.
“At first we thought firecrackers were going off,” said an eyewitness, referring to the gunshots. To scare the spectators, the attackers also fired into the air, he said in a statement to the police.
