A 21-year-old trainee wrestler and her 18-year-old brother were shot dead allegedly by the woman’s coach in Haryana’s Sonipat district on Wednesday, The Hindu reported.
The wrestler, Nisha Dahiya and her brother, Suraj Dahiya, were allegedly shot dead at a wrestling academy on the outskirts of Halalpur village in Sonipat.
Their mother, Dhanpati Dahiya, was also shot at, and has sustained injuries. She has been admitted to the Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, The Indian Express reported.
The accused man, identified as Pawan, is absconding. The police are attempting to find him.
On Wednesday, some reports had incorrectly identified the victim as the national-level wrestler, Nisha Dahiya. However, the world U-23 bronze medallist released a statement on social media saying that she is fine, and is in Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda district for a senior nationals championship.
Watch: U23 World C’ships medallist Nisha Dahiya denies reports about her death
The Sushil Kumar Wrestling Academy in Halalpur, Sonipat, where a young female wrestler was allegedly shot dead yesterday by her coach, is now in tatters after the angry neighbourhood burned the place to the ground. pic.twitter.com/JMwobnmxy7
— Rahul Rawat (@rawatrahul9) November 11, 2021
On Wednesday’s killing, Inspector Karamjeet Singh, the Station House Officer of the Kharkhoda Police Station, said that Pawan had allegedly been harassing the wrestler, who had asked her brother and mother to come to the academy.
The police officer said that the coach was also accompanied by his wife and a few relatives.
The trainee wrestler had been training at the academy for the past three years.
Dhanpati Dahiya told the police that Pawan fired at her daughter after she accused him of harassment. She said that afterwards, she and the wrestler’s brother ran in different directions.
“The accused got hold of me…and shot me,” The Indian Express quoted her as saying. “They chased my son, who was running towards the village. I saw them firing several bullets, which hit him and he died on the spot.”
The wrestler’s mother further alleged that Pawan and his associates removed CCTV cameras at the academy and near the village road before fleeing.
The father of the victims is an Inspector with the Central Reserve Police Force and is currently posted in Srinagar. He has been informed about the incident, The Hindu quoted the police as saying.
Mayank Gupta, Assistant Superindendent of Police (Kharkhoda) said that the academy where the two were killed is Sushil Kumar Academy. After the incident, some villagers reportedly set the building ablaze.