Kabaddi player and promoter Rana Balachauria, also known as Kanwar Digvijay Singh, was shot dead by assailants on a motorcycle during the crowded Sohana Kabaddi Cup in Mohali, Punjab, on Monday evening, 15 December 2025, in front of hundreds of spectators.
The 30-year-old, recently married and from Balachauria village, was approached by two to three attackers pretending to take selfies a common request given his local fame before they fired six to seven .32 calibre rounds at close range, hitting him multiple times in the head and face; he was rushed to Fortis Hospital but declared dead on arrival.
The Chaudhary-Shaganpreet gang, also linked to Bambiha or Gopi Ghanshampur factions, claimed responsibility via social media, alleging he sheltered killers of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala, worked with rivals Lawrence Bishnoi and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, and naming shooters like Makkhan Amritsar, Karan, Doni Bal, and Saganpreet; Mohali SSP Harmandeep Singh Hans confirmed the selfie ruse and shell recovery but avoided motive speculation as police scan CCTV, probe gangster links, and hunt suspects with no arrests yet.
Brazen Attack Shocks Tournament
The tragedy unfolded at the Sector 82 tournament ground during the peak of the Sohana Kabaddi Cup, a popular event drawing 500-600 fans, players, and organisers under bright floodlights.
Eyewitness videos circulating online capture the horrifying moment: assailants on a black motorcycle pull up casually, one dismounts to pose for photos with Balachauria, who smiles unsuspectingly, before drawing weapons and unleashing a barrage of shots.
Balachauria collapsed instantly amid screams, with shooters firing into the air to scatter the crowd and flee into the night, leaving spent shells scattered across the field. Mohali SSP Harmandeep Singh Hans detailed, “Balachauria was used to people asking to be clicked with him and suspected nothing.
Two to three assailants approached the players on the pretext of clicking photographs and suddenly opened fire,” underscoring how his prominence as a kabaddi promoter made him an easy target in this public setting. Fellow players rushed to aid him, but the wounds proved fatal; his recent marriage added a heartbreaking layer, as family and community mourn a man known for nurturing rural sports talent.
Deep-Rooted Gang Vendettas Emerge
In a viral social media post hours after the killing, the gang boasted, “We avenged our brother Moosewala,” directly tying the murder to the 2022 assassination of the chart-topping singer Sidhu Moose Wala, for which they hold Balachauria responsible by claiming he harboured the perpetrators.
The message accused him of longstanding ties to arch-rivals Jaggu Bhagwanpuria (alias Jaggu Khoti) and Lawrence Bishnoi gangs, portraying the hit as calculated retribution executed by named operatives Makkhan Amritsar, Karan, and others from the Chaudhary-Shaganpreet wing.
This incident fits a grim pattern in Punjab’s kabaddi circuit, where players like Sandeep Nangal Ambian and Tejpal Singh have fallen to similar gang crossfire, amid a surge in targeted killings linked to underworld turf wars over smuggling, extortion, and old scores.
Opposition leaders have slammed the AAP-led Punjab government for lax law and order, demanding accountability as police verify the gang’s claims, analyse forensics, and trace the motorcycle through extensive CCTV networks across Mohali and nearby districts. No official endorsement of the post has come, but sources hint at multiple investigative angles, including potential insider tips.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
This cold-blooded execution amid cheering crowds exposes how gang rot infiltrates even the heart of Punjab’s sporting heritage, transforming raucous kabaddi fields symbols of rural pride and unity into arenas of death and despair.
At The Logical Indian, we reject this venomous cycle of vengeance that claims young lives, fractures families, and poisons communities, advocating fiercely for peace, empathy, dialogue, and systemic change through ironclad policing, youth rehabilitation programmes, community-driven de-radicalisation, and policies that channel athletic passion into progress rather than peril. True strength lies in harmony and coexistence, not bullets; authorities must act decisively to shield athletes and dismantle these networks at their roots.
