Indian singer and YouTuber Ankiit Baliyan was shot dead outside a gym in northern India after a social media post allegedly belonging to a gang member claimed he had composed a song about the killing of its leader.
Baliyan was killed on Wednesday evening in Shamli, a city in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about 100km north-east of the capital New Delhi, according to The Times of India.
Police said three to four unidentified attackers arrived on two motorcycles and opened fire on him as he left a gym in the city’s Kotwali area.
He suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was taken to a nearby community health centre, where doctors were unable to save him.
Shamli’s superintendent of police, NP Singh, said several teams had been formed to identify and arrest those responsible and establish the motive.
Police were examining CCTV footage from the gym and surrounding area, while teams were also sent to Haryana, where he had been working.
Police said the attackers fled after the shooting, and no arrests had been announced as of Thursday morning.
However, an Instagram post from a man identifying himself as Bholu Shahpuria, who claimed to belong to the Gogi gang, said the group was responsible for the killing.
The gang is named after Delhi gangster Jitender Maan, alias Gogi, who was shot dead by members of a rival gang inside a courtroom in the capital in 2021.
