Coach badly injured in Chhatrasal Stadium, trainees told to vacate hostel

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Wrestlers at Delhi’s Chhatrasal Stadium, a premier academy for the sport, were asked to vacate the hostel after a coach was allegedly beaten up by a trainee on Tuesday night, coaches at the centre said.

They said the injured coach Jaiveer Dahiya, who is also an international referee, needed several stitches on his head and chin. “The incident happened last night around 11pm; a wrestler beat up Jaiveer with sticks in presence of some of his friends. The coach was severely injured. The coach had an altercation with the wrestlers during training and he was attacked at night,” two coaches at the Chhatrasal Stadium, who did not want to be identified, said.

When contacted, a senior Delhi Police official said Dahiya had refused to file a complaint, saying he fell down the stairs.

Following the shocking incident, the stadium administration decided on Wednesday to shut the hostel and asked the wrestlers to vacate the premises. However, some of the country’s top wrestlers including Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Ravi Dahiya, Aman Sehrawat, Deepak Punia and Sumit Malik, all preparing for the Paris Olympics, have been allowed to stay back continue their training, it was learnt.

“The centre had been closed for some time. There were many unauthorised trainees who were staying in the hostel and one of them attacked the coach. The coach has received more than 30 stitches. Only a few top wrestlers have been allowed to continue with their training,” said a coach on condition of anonymity.

Deputy Director of Education (Sports), Manish Jain, did not respond to calls and text messages seeking comments on the incident.

There are around 200 trainees and six coaches attached to India’s premier wrestling centre. However, the Chhatrasal Stadium also drew notoriety in 2021 when a junior wrestler Sagar Dhankar was murdered inside the premises. Double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar, who along with others were arrested for the assault, is in jail.

The Chhatrasal Stadium is a Delhi government sports centre. Its multisport stadium also has an athletics track and facilities for basketball, archery, football, etc.