Singer and YouTube personality Ankiit Baliyan was gunned down outside a gym in northern India Wednesday night in a shocking attack that police are now investigating for possible gang ties.
Baliyan was leaving a gym in Shamli, a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh roughly 60 miles northeast of New Delhi, when three to four unidentified attackers reportedly pulled up on two motorcycles and opened fire.
He was struck multiple times.
The singer was rushed to a nearby medical center, but doctors were unable to save him.
Police said the gunmen fled immediately after the shooting, and no arrests had been announced as of Thursday morning.
Shamli police superintendent NP Singh said several teams have been assigned to identify the attackers and determine why Baliyan was targeted.
Investigators are reviewing surveillance footage from the gym and nearby businesses and have also sent teams to neighboring Haryana, where Baliyan had been living and working.
The case took an even darker turn after an Instagram account allegedly belonging to a man named Bholu Shahpuria claimed responsibility for Baliyan’s killing on behalf of the Gogi gang.
Police have not confirmed that the post is authentic.
The Gogi gang is named after notorious Delhi gangster Jitender Maan, also known as Gogi, who was shot dead by members of a rival gang inside a crowded New Delhi courtroom in 2021.
Despite Gogi’s death, authorities say his organization continued operating and has been linked to crimes including murder and extortion.
In the social media post now being investigated, Shahpuria allegedly claimed Baliyan had sided with the gang’s rivals and had written a song about Gogi’s killing.
Singh said police are looking into whether the post is genuine and whether an old dispute involving the Gogi gang may have played a role in the singer’s death.
Baliyan’s family, however, says it has no idea why anyone would want him dead.
“I want the man who killed him. I don’t want anything else. The protest will continue,” his father, Satbir Singh, told reporters.
His father also insisted that Baliyan had no known connections that could explain such a violent attack.
Another relative told reporters the family remains completely in the dark about the killers and their motive.
“To this day, we still don’t know who they were or how it happened; we are completely in the dark,” the relative said.
Baliyan was originally from Bantikhera, a village in Shamli district, but had spent much of his recent life working in Haryana, including in the cities of Rohtak and Sonipat, as his music career grew.
He had built a major online following, with more than 367,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Baliyan was best known as part of the Haryanvi music scene, a regional music industry centered in Haryana and surrounding areas of northern India.
His songs often focused on rural pride, toughness, power and local rivalries, with firearms and confrontational imagery appearing frequently in his music videos.
One of his biggest songs, “Bhari Court Mein Goli Marenge Meri Jaan,” which roughly translates to “We Will Shoot You in a Packed Court, My Love,” has amassed more than 54 million views on YouTube.
The song’s title has taken on an eerie significance following Baliyan’s own violent death.
In addition to his music, Baliyan appeared on podcasts with political and farming figures, including prominent Indian farmer leader Rakesh Tikait.
He was also reportedly preparing to run in an upcoming district panchayat election, a form of local government election in India.
News of the killing triggered protests in Shamli, where Baliyan’s relatives and supporters blocked a major road near the scene of the shooting while demanding the killers be arrested.
The demonstration took place near Verma Market Tiraha, only about 160 feet from where Baliyan was attacked.
Police have yet to establish an official motive.
Investigators are continuing to examine surveillance video, possible old rivalries, Baliyan’s connections in Haryana and the explosive social media claim allegedly made by a member of the Gogi gang.