Muzaffarnagar, Aug. 26 -- Youtuber and Haryanvi singer Ankit Balyan was shot dead by unidentified assailants outside a gym in Shamli district on Wednesday evening, police said. The incident took place in the Kotwali police station area as Balyan was leaving the gym.
According to police, the attackers arrived on two motorcycles and fired several rounds at Balyan. He died at the spot. Superintendent of Police M P Singh said the body had been sent for post-mortem examination and police teams were formed to arrest those responsible. CCTV footage from the area is also being examined.
There was speculation that Balyan was planning to contest the upcoming panchayat polls, but authorities and his associates had not confirmed it or whether it was linked to the killing. Balyan had more than 3.66 lakh YouTube subscribers and appeared in videos as a singer and performer. Several of his videos featured guns, firearms and SUVs. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav condemned the killing, saying 18 rounds were fired and claiming the incident showed the law-and-order situation in Uttar Pradesh had been reduced to "zero". He called for an investigation into possible political rivalry and said the Jat community viewed the killing as an attack on itself.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.