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On Friday night, a twenty-two year old kabaddi player was shot to death by four unidentified men in Punjab. The incident took place in the town of Jaitu in the Faridkot district of Punjab. The deceased has been identified as Amandeep Singh. He was rushed to Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
According to sources, the reason for the murder was an old political rivalry between two opposing teams. The victim was a supporter of an Akali leader in Jaitu. Some time ago, this Akali leader was alleged to have engineered an attack on a worker of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Right to Information (RTI) activist, who had reportedly distributed some posters to generate awareness among residents of Jaitu. He had done this in view of the ensuing municipal elections and had mentioned cases of corruption in the local municipal committee.
He was allegedly beaten up by a group of about ten people and he was seriously injured in the incident. Singh was believed to have been a part of the attack.
The murder of Singh may have been a counter-strike. Jaitu DSP Jagdish Bishnoi said that investigations were ongoing.
This incident comes at a time, when kabaddi is gradually coming to the forefront of the Indian sporting landscape. The Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), a professional kabaddi league was started in India, after the resounding success of the Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 cricket tournament.
It has been formulated as an eight-city league played in a 'caravan format,' travelling together to all eight venues to play a total of 56-60 matches. The tournament turned to be a huge success, which provided young Indian talents to showcase their abilities.
It received media coverage and was widely telecast with notable celebrities tweeting about it to spread awareness about one of the oldest Indian sports. In viewership, it was close to the number of people who watch IPL and the cricket World Cup.
The first season was won by U Mumba while the Jaipur Pink Panthers walked away with the title in the second season. Several international players, particularly from Iran, were drafted in the tournament and the squad strength was bolstered from 14 to 25 to give more chances to local talents as well as to cope with injuries.
