The news of Voice of India 2007 winner Ishmeet Singh's tragic death was greeted with shock and disbelief on Wednesday.

Among those who could not believe that the 19-year old singer drowned in a swimming pool in the Maldives [Images] was Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [Images], who was shocked and saddened by the news. ''Dr Singh shares the grief of his parents and fans,'' a PMO spokesman said.

The music industry also could not get over the fact that the budding singer was no more. The Ludhiana-based singer was on a promotional tour to promote a music label with which he had signed a contract when he met with the fatal accident.

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'Ishmeet was like a child to me and I can't still believe that he is no longer with us. I feel choked thinking about it and am trying hard to overcome my grief,' Radioandmusic.com quoted a stunned Gajendra Singh, who produced Star Voice of India.

'We have been together for almost two years now and have shared the same room as a part of the show. Although we were the final contenders in VOI, there was no sense of competition and we were like brothers. I remember him as a guy who used to love net surfing and ate a lot of pizzas!' the website quoted Harshit Saxena [Images], who was the second runner-up in Voice of India, as saying. Both Harshit and Ishmeet [Images] were also a part of the recently concluded reality show, Jo Jeeta Wohi Superstar.

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Another contestant of Jo Jeeta Wohi Superstar, Himani Kapoor recalled Ishmeet as 'a reserved and humble guy, who had a smile on his face, come what may.'