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Sonepat murders: Prime suspects behind killings of wrestler, her brother held
The siblings were killed while their mother, Dhanpati, was injured when they were fired upon at a wrestling academy at Halalpur in Haryana’s Sonepat on Wednesday
Two prime suspects in the murder of 22-year-old university-level wrestler Nisha Dahiya, and her brother, Suraj Dahiya, 18, have been apprehended, the Delhi Police said on Friday.
The siblings were killed while their mother, Dhanpati, was injured when they were fired upon at a wrestling academy at Halalpur in Haryana’s Sonepat on Wednesday.
The Delhi Police identified the two accused as 25-year-old wrestling coach Pawan Barak and his associate Sachin Dahiya, 23. The two were apprehended from Delhi’s Dwarka area. One licensed revolver has been recovered from Barak’s possession. Sachin Dahiya was previously arrested in two cases of the Arms Act in Haryana, said deputy police commissioner (special cell) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav.
“The two men were wanted in the double murder case registered at the Kharkhoda police station in Haryana’s Sonepat,” said Yadav.
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A Special Investigation Team of the Sonepat Police on Thursday arrested Barak’s wife, Sujata, and her brother, Amit, in connection with the double murder.
Barak and Sachin Dahiya were the prime suspects in the case and were absconding. The Haryana police announced ₹1 lakh reward for information leading to their arrest.
The reports of the murder triggered confusion as the university-level wrestler was a namesake of a bronze medal winner at the Under-23 World Championship.
In her statement to the Haryana Police, Dhanpati alleged Pawan Barak, also the owner of the academy, fired at them after her daughter accused him of harassing her. “My daughter informed me earlier too that Pawan often misbehaved with her. When we talked to the accused about this, he promised not to repeat such acts.”
She said on Wednesday, her daughter went to the academy for training and returned home. “At 1pm, she went to the academy again. We received a call from Pawan saying Nisha was not feeling well, and he asked us to take her home. When I and my son Suraj reached there, we saw Pawan, his wife Sujata, and two others rushing towards Nisha near the main gate of the academy. She told me that Pawan had misbehaved with her and threatened to kill her if she narrated the incident to anyone.”
Pawan Barak then allegedly pulled out a gun and fired multiple shots. “She collapsed after receiving bullet wounds. Pawan then fired shots at me and chased my son Suraj, who was running towards the village. I saw them firing several bullets, which hit him and he too died on the spot.”
The slain wrestler’s father, Dayanand Dahiya, a sub-inspector in the Central Reserve Police Force, has alleged that Pawan Barak extorted ₹8-10 lakh from them in the name of sending their daughter to foreign tournaments.
“Pawan brainwashed my daughter and she used to follow his directions. On his advice, Nisha did not appear in her exams and the coach did not pay us ₹50,000 won by Nisha in a tournament in Maharashtra. He had also taken money from my daughter to prepare her another birth certificate with a lower age.”
