Rohtak, June 22 -- A day after a 27-year-old liquor trader was shot dead by unidentified assailants outside a vend in Kharak Ramji village of Jind, superintendent of police (SP) Kuldeep Singh on Saturday confirmed that the murder stemmed from an old rivalry and that eight people had been booked.

Speaking to Hindustan Times over the phone, SP Kuldeep Singh said the victim, Virender alias Binder, did not own the vend but was involved as a silent partner.

"Virender had a criminal background and was facing eight to ten cases. He was killed by members of a rival gang who are not involved in the liquor trade. This murder is not linked to any liquor-related dispute but to a long-standing personal enmity. He and his aides had earlier assaulted ...