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Rohtak wrestling arena firing: Day on, accused nabbed from Delhi
Police have formed six teams to nab the accused; CCTVs in the college and surrounding areas being scanned
A day after five persons were shot dead and two others, including a three-year-old child, were grievously injured in a firing incident in the wrestling arena of Rohtak’s Jat College, a joint team of the Delhi police and Rohtak police arrested the accused, Sukhvinder Singh from Samaypur Badli area in Delhi.
Earlier in the day, police had announced a reward of ₹1 lakh for information on the accused, who is a resident of Baroda village in Sonepat and a certified coach from Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala.
Rohtak superintendent of police (SP) Rahul Sharma said, “We had formed six teams to arrest the accused. He was caught from Samaypur Badli area in Delhi in a joint operation by Rohtak and Delhi police. We will bring him to Rohtak on production warrant and seek his remand.”
“Prima facie it appears that the incident took place due to rivalry between the accused and head coach Manoj Kumar. We are collecting CCTV footage from the Jat College and nearby areas. The victims’ bodies have been handed over to their family members,” the SP added.
On Friday evening, coach Manoj Kumar of Sonepat, his wife Sakshi, two NIS-certified coaches Satish Dalal of Jhajjar and Pardeep Malik of Rohtak, were shot dead along with national-level wrestler Pooja on the campus.
Manoj’s three-year-old son Sartaj is in the intensive care unit (ICU) at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS), Rohtak, while the other injured, coach Amarjeet Singh, is undergoing treatment at Medanta hospital in Gurugram.
Deceased couple belonged to a family of sportspersons
Talking to Hindustan Times at the PGIMS mortuary, coach Manoj Kumar’s younger brother Parmoj Kumar, a commonwealth medalist in boxing, said his brother, Manoj, and sister-in-law, Sakshi, were national-level players. He added that their family had cordial relations with the accused.
“Sukhvinder was working as a wrestling coach at the Jat College akhara. My brother, who was the head of the akhara, had asked Sukhvinder to leave the college after Pooja filed a complaint against him. Sukhvinder had strained relations with his wife and had started harassing Pooja. He had even asked Pooja to marry him following which she complained about him,” said Parmoj.
Jat college principal Sangeeta Dalal, however, refuted claims that Sukhvinder worked at the institute. “Manoj Kumar was a coach at our institute but Sukhvinder was not on the rolls. He was a former student of the college. He may have visited our akhara for practice but he was not a coach here,” she maintained.
An employee of the college, on the condition of anonymity, said that Manoj had barred Sukhvinder from visiting the akhara after Pooja filed a complaint against him.
Meanwhile Pooja’s father, Ram Gopal, said his daughter had become a victim of rivalry between coaches. “My daughter was to return home to Mathura on Saturday. She had won two medals at national-level events. She had moved to Rohtak with an aim of becoming an international-level player. Despite financial constraints at home, I had ensured that my daughter’s practice never suffered. Unfortunately, she was caught in the rivalry between two coaches,” said Gopal.
An NIS coach at Patiala, pleading anonymity, said the accused, Sukvinder, had obtained a diploma in coaching from NIS in 2017. “Satish Dalal was also in his batch and the two were good friends. While Dalal was a sincere person, Sukhvinder had behavioural issues,” he said, adding that Sukhvinder held grudges against Amarjeet (injured) as he had got him expelled from his previous akhara in Rohtak.
Akhara sealed, players practice affected
Meanwhile, the police have sealed the akhara where the firing took place. Over 100 players, including 20 national-level players, train here. The players said that the incident took place when the victims were having a meeting with Sukhvinder to sort out their differences. “We came to know about the incident when we heard Manoj Kumar’s son, Sartaj, screaming. After shooting at the victims, Sukhvinder had locked the doors of the meeting room and fled the spot,” said the players.
They added that the incident had left them shocked, and their families were asking them to return home.
PROFILES
THE DECEASED:
Manoj Kumar, 39, director of physical education (DPE), Sonepat
He was a national-level player before being appointed the director of physical education at Jat College, Rohtak. Before joining the college, he had been recruited as a constable in the Haryana police. The recruitments had taken place when the Indian National Lok Dal was in power in Haryana. Later, when the Congress government came to power, it had sacked the constables, citing irregularities. Kumar later became the head coach of the Jat College akhara, where over 100 wrestlers came for training.
Sakshi Malik, 32, Manoj’s wife, employed as clerk with the Railways
A national-level athlete, she was employed as a clerk by the Railways. She had joined the service four years ago.
Satish Dalal, 28, NIS certified coach, Jhajjar
He was an NIS-certified wrestling coach and used to train budding wrestlers. He obtained a diploma in coaching from NIS, Patiala, in the year 2016-17 and was a friend and batch-mate of the accused, Sukhvinder.
Pradeep Malik, 30, coach, Rohtak
Malik was also a certified wrestling coach and he hailed from Mokhra village in the district. He was a national-level player and used to coach wrestlers.
Pooja, 17, national-level player, Uttar Pradesh
A two-time national-level medallist, the 17-year-old wrestler had shifted to Rohtak from Mathura two years ago, impressed by the facilities here. She aspired to represent India at the international-level.
ACCUSED
Sukhvinder, 29, NIS certified coach, Sonepat
He was a national-level player before receiving certification in coaching from NIS, Patiala in 2016-17. His father had allegedly evicted him from his house, and his wife had moved back to her parents’ house due to frequent domestic quarrels.
The other coaches had barred him visiting the akhara at Jat College after a player filed a complaint against him.
