A reel, 18 bullets and a murder outside Shamli gym
Haryanvi singer, actor, and YouTuber, Ankit Baliyan was shot dead outside a gym in Shamli’s City Kotwali area, near Aryapuri Nala Patri by bike-born assassins on August 26, Wednesday. Hours before being shot, Baliyan had posted an Instagram reel from his car, singing lines about a murder on the road and asking followers to share it. The murder was followed by a viral social media post that claimed responsibility on behalf of the Gogi gang.
Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Amitabh Yash said CCTV footage showed about four people on two bikes firing 18 rounds. Five bullets hit Baliyan in the head and abdomen, and three hit the windshield. “He had been working out at a fitness gym. As he stepped out, around 6.55 pm, four unidentified people arrived in two vehicles and opened fire,” said Meerut Zone Additional Director General (ADG) Bhanu Bhaskar. “Police were present and rushed him to the Community Health Centre, but the doctors could not save him,” he added.
Shamli Superintendent of Police Narendra Pratap Singh said the first alert came through the Dial 112 system. “Several teams have been formed to catch the suspects. Some teams have also been sent to Haryana,” he added.
Baliyan, who was in his early thirties, was from Bantikhera and had lived and worked in Rohtak and Sonipat. He had more than 3.6 lakh YouTube subscribers. He was known for gun-themed songs in Haryanvi, especially Bhari Court Mein Goli Maarenge Meri Jaan (I’ll shoot you right inside the courtroom, my love).
His mother demanded justice. “He never did anyone any wrong,” she said. Family members said they did not know the attackers. “We weren’t even at home. To this day, we still don’t know who they were or how it happened,” one relative said. His father, Satvir, filed the complaint that led to a murder case against four unnamed attackers.
In a social media post, an account titled Bholu Shahpuri from Sonipat said that Baliyan had made a song about the 2021 Rohini court killing of gangster Jitender Mann, also known as Gogi and supported the gang’s rivals. Police are treating the post as a lead, not a conclusion. Singh said investigators were checking if it was genuine and if any older dispute involving that group was linked to the Shamli shooting.
The investigation is now an inter-State operation. Shamli is close to the Haryana border. Singh said vehicle movement after the attack pointed in that direction. “We think this murder is more connected to Haryana. Our SOG and surveillance team are in Haryana and in constant contact with officers there.” He added that Haryana Police had shared information and that some gang-linked names had come up. Officers said the footage had helped spot two suspects, though their identities had not been publicly confirmed. “We are working on all the electronic evidence we have, and we also have some very credible inputs on which action is underway,” Singh said. Police are also looking at Facebook videos where people seem to claim responsibility or talk about abuse involving the singer. “All these facts are being included in the investigation.”
