Click to play videoMeerut: An 18-year-old cricketer was gunned down accidentally by unidentified gunmen in Meerut on Friday night.
Gagandeep Singh was a left-arm spinner in the India Under-19 squad. The young cricketer was in Meerut for the CK Naidu Trophy and had stepped out to eat kebab at a shop when the shopkeeper and some armed customers got into a fight. A stray bullet hit Gagandeep and proved fatal.
"Till now we have got this information from the coach that he had gone to the restaurant to eat. There was firing going on. One child was injured and Gagandeep Singh was shot at. He died on the way to the hospital," said Gagandeep uncle Tarinder Singh.
Gagandeep, who began his career representing Uttar Pradesh, had recently returned from Australia where he played one Test and a One-Dayer.
"He had just come back from Australia after playing the Under-19 for India. We have lost a star of tomorrow," said Yudhveer Singh, Head Meerut Cricket Association
Meanwhile, police have already arrested one of the suspects allegedly involved in shooting at the restaurant.
"We have arrested Rahul Sirohi. His mother works in the police. We will nab the others as well. We have recovered a pistol and four cartridges from Sirohi," Superintendent of Police, Meerut (city), Prabal Pratap Singh said.
The shocking incident also brings to light the state of lawlessness in Uttar Pradesh
The state has the highest number of arms licenses in the country and there are many more illegal weapons.
It seems there's nothing to stop gun-totting groups from pulling the trigger at the slightest provocation.
And when that happens, 18-year olds like Gagandeep pay with their lives.
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