Under-23 world medal-winning wrestler is in Gonda for senior NationalsNEW DELHI: India's wrestling fraternity went into shock for a while on Wednesday evening when the news broke out that U-23 women's world championships bronze medallist (65kg category)
wrestler Nisha Dahiya
and her brother Suraj have been shot dead at a wrestling academy in
Sonepat
by unidentified assailants. Hours later, the news of Nisha's killing, which spread like wildfire on social media, turned out to be 'fake'.
In fact, it took the 3-time national champion
Nisha to post a nine-second video on her Instagram account to confirm that she was alive and safe. Nisha informed that she was in Uttar Pradesh's Gonda to represent the Railways team at the Senior Nationals in
Nandini Nagar
, scheduled from November 11 to 13.
"Hello, My name is Nisha. I have come to play the senior Nationals in Gonda. I am absolutely fine. This is a fake news. I am fine," Nisha said in the video, with 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medallist
Sakshi Malik sitting next to her. Later, Sonepat's SP Rahul Sharma issued a statement informing: "This
Nisha Dahiya (shot dead) and medallist wrestler Nisha Dahiya are two different people. The medallist wrestler belongs to Panipat and is at an event now."
Wrestling Federation of India
(WFI) assistant secretary,
Vinod Tomar
, informed TOI from Gonda that the
WFI
has launched its own probe into the matter and that the wrestler was keeping fine after the unfortunate incident.
TOI did some fact-finding and learnt that it was a case of mistaken identity. A girl and her brother were shot dead while their mother was grievously injured in the incessant firing at the
Sushil Kumar wrestling academy in Sonepat's Halalpur. Some online media reports claimed that the deceased girl was an upcoming wrestler which TOI can't independently confirm. It was reported that the injured lady has been admitted to Rohtak's PGI hospital.
The Sonepat police, in their first information report (FIR), mentioned the victim's name as only Nisha, which added to the confusion. It was only after Nisha's family contacted her in Gonda following online reports about her fatal killing that the real picture emerged. It was also learnt that the local villagers later burnt down the academy in protest, demanding strict action against the culprits.