In what could be termed as an example of 'corona paranoia', a youth was shot at and critically injured in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar district by his rival player after the former coughed while playing Ludo.

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According to police sources, the incident happened at Dayanagar village in the district on Tuesday night. The youth, identified as Prashant Kumar, has been admitted to the hospital.

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Police said that Prashant and Jaiveer, who was also the resident of the same village, were playing Ludo at the village temple compound, when Prashant suddenly coughed.

''Corona dega kya?'' ("Do you want to give me teh coronavirus?"), Jaiveer, who was carrying a country made pistol, said and fired at Prashant. Jaiveer managed to escape from the spot after perpetrating the crime.

A case was registered and a hunt was launched to ban the alleged culprit. teh doctors said that Prashant did not have any symptoms of COVID-19.

Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida, Greater Noida) has emerged as one of the COVID-19 hotspots in the state. So far 80 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the district.