Coach held for wrestler Nisha Pahalwan and her brother's murder in Haryana

NEW DELHI:  The Delhi Police on Friday arrested a wrestling coach — Pawan Barak (25)  — in connection with the murder of budding wrestler Nisha Pahalwan and her brother Suraj, who were shot dead in Haryana’s Sonepat on Wednesday.

Barak’s associate Sachin Dahiya (23), who was among the four other persons present at the crime scene, was also arrested by the Special Cell of the city police. Dahiya was found previously involved in two cases under the Arms Act, DCP (Special Cell) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said. 

The sleuths also recovered the pistol allegedly used for the murder from Barak’s possession. Both the accused are residents of Rohtak, Haryana.  The two other accused — the coach’s wife and his brother-in-law — were arrested on Thursday evening by Haryana Police. The accused persons have been booked under IPC sections 148 (rioting with deadly weapon), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 354D (stalking) and 506 (criminal intimidation) and also under the Arms Act.

Nisha and Suraj were killed and their mother suffered injuries as assailants opened fire on them. The mother was admitted to the PGIMS hospital in Rohtak. The incident took place around 2 pm on Wednesday and five to six rounds of bullets were fired. Nisha had trained for three years at the wrestling academy run by Barak in Sonepat’s Halalpur village. Her mother alleged the coach molested her and when she confronted him, he shot Nisha and her 19-year-old brother dead.