Trainee wrestler, brother shot dead in Haryana

Initially mistaken for her national-level namesake, police said Nisha Dahiya’s killer is absconding

Google Maps image loacates the World Champion Sushil Wrestling Academy on the outskirts of Halalpur village in Sonipat, Haryana.

A 21-year-old Haryana-based trainee wrestler, Nisha Dahiya, and her 18-year-old brother, were shot dead by the former’s coach, while her mother was left severely injured, on Wednesday, inside a wrestling academy on the outskirts of Halalpur village in Sonipat, the Haryana Police said.

After news broke of the death, it was attributed to the national-level wrestler by the same name, Nisha Dahiya, who recently won the bronze medal in the 72 kg weight class at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships 2021 in Belgrade, receiving praise from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Ms. Dahiya, in a video put out by the Wrestling Federation of India, said that she was in Gonda in U.P. to participate in the senior nationals contest and was doing fine. Ms. Dahiya also went live on her official Instagram handle to communicate this.

According to the Haryana Police, the deceased brother of the trainee wrestler has been identified as Suraj. The accused, identified as Pawan, is on the run. Dahiya and her family were based in Halalpur village, police said. The deceased duo’s injured mother, identified as Dhanpati Dahiya, is receiving treatment at the Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Rohtak. “The motive of the crime is not immediately known and we are still waiting to record the mother’s statement,” the police said.

Superintendent of Police (Sonipat) Rahul Sharma told mediapersons: “

Prima facie , it has come to the fore that the woman and her brother were killed by the coach of the academy and his associates. The mother has also sustained injuries. Our teams have been deployed to trace and arrest the culprits. The number of bullets fired will only be ascertained after the postmortem is conducted.”

According to police sources, Suraj used to drop his sister to the academy on his motorcycle every day for training. At around 2 p.m. on Wednesday, coach Pawan allegedly shot Dahiya dead inside the academy, following which he made a call to her family, informing them about her death. “After her brother and mother came to the spot, he opened fire on them as well, due to which the brother died on the spot and the mother was left injured,” a police source said, adding that, subsequently, locals saw the bodies and informed the local police about the incident.

The father of the deceased serves as an Inspector with the Central Reserve Police Force, police said, adding that he had been informed about the tragic incident. The academy where the deceased was receiving training is located at a distance of about 2 km from the Halalpur village. Police sources said an FIR will be registered.

Meanwhile, the academy was set on fire by locals. An investigation has been initiated into that incident also. “The institute was named after Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar but we have found no links to him as of now,” a police source said.