MUMBAI: A budding Punjabi singer Navjot Singh was found shot dead in Dera Bassi area of Punjab, around 15 km from here, following which police launched an investigation on Monday to catch the culprits.

Navjot's body was found in a pool of blood with five gunshot wounds near a factory plot past midnight on Sunday. His Nissan Micra car was found parked nearby.

He was shot in the chest from close range. A murder case was registered against unidentified persons.

The police ruled out robbery as the reason for the killing since nothing had been taken away from his person. Since he was a struggling artiste, extortion by gangsters was also ruled out.

The singer, aged around 22, was living in a rented apartment in S.A.S. Nagar, adjoining Chandigarh. 

He had called up his mother minutes before he was killed and told her that he was returning home in Behra village. The family began searching when he did not return home.

(Source: IANS)