To quench, to turn off; to crush, to beat up, to waste. Originally a standard verb meaning “to extinguish” (a fire) or “to turn off” (a light). In modern Russian slang, it has developed several aggressive meanings depending on the context: it can mean to severely beat someone up, to eliminate or kill a target (common in criminal or action-movie contexts), to brutally suppress or roast someone in an argument, or to completely ignore or block someone.
В сталинские времена стояла задача по физическому истреблению инакомыслящих (политических), и то никто их не гасил в тюрьмах (расстрелы — тема отдельная), и не оформлял как несчастный случай.
In Stalin’s times, the task was to physically exterminate dissidents (political), and no one snuffed them in jail (shootings are a separate topic), only to declare it an accident.
(Владимир Николаевич @ google.ru, 04/2011)
