Two suspected shooters who fired multiple rounds at Haryanvi singer-YouTuber Ankit Balyan have been killed in an encounter with the police in Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli.
2 Suspected Shooters Of Haryanvi Singer Ankit Balyan Killed In UP Encounter
In the video, he was seen sitting in his car and singing his ‘Baby Badmash’ song, which was released last month. On Saturday, senior police officials visited his family after his wife threatened to immolate herself outside the Uttar Pradesh chief minister’s residence if police failed to arrest the killers within four days. He sustained critical injuries and was rushed to a nearby community health centre, where doctors declared him dead. The other two suspects are currently on the run. A day after the killing, a person claiming to be a member of the Gogi gang had taken responsibility for the murder in a social media post. The killing drew criticism from the Samajwadi Party and Congress, which criticised the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government over the state’s law and order situation. A resident of Shamli, Balyan had over five lakh followers on Instagram and more than three lakh subscribers on his YouTube channel. Balyan’s songs heavily feature guns, fights and SUVs, with lyrics invoking themes of violence, defiance and rivalry. He had to quit the sport after suffering a leg fracture and later joined a gym.
Balyan was shot outside his gym in Shamli by four assailants on two bikes on August 26. A video of the attack had later surfaced on social media, purportedly showing Balyan coming out of his gym and walking towards his car when the shooters approached him and fired at least 16 rounds. Ankit Balyan’s brother told reporters that he played state-level kabaddi until 2013-14 and had participated in competitions in Delhi, Bhopal and other places. It was around 2022 that he began pursuing his passion for Haryanvi music. Over the years, he worked on more than 50 songs as a singer, lyricist and music composer.
The two suspects, identified as Sumit and Mohit, are said to be members of the Gogi gang. Hours before his murder, Ankit Balyan had sung a few lines of his new song, including “Murder maar de sadak ke upar (murder on the road)” in an Instagram video. Some of his popular songs included “Bhari Court Mein Goli Marenge”, “Body Builder”, “PTI”, and “Ek Khtola Jail Ke Bhitar”.
