LUCKNOW, Aug. 2 -- A 22-year-old former kabaddi player was shot dead in Shamli district on Saturday morning while on his way to pick up labourers for agricultural work, police said. Investigators suspect he was assaulted before being shot, and have launched a manhunt for those involved.

Police said a Dial 112 call was received around 8 am informing them that a body with a gunshot wound was lying in a sugarcane field along the canal embankment in Nala village under Kandhla police station limits.

Senior police officers, including superintendent of police NP Singh, additional SP and the Kairana circle officer, rushed to the spot and inspected the crime scene.

The deceased was identified as Mohana alias Monu, a resident of Kakripur village...