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National Level Fencing Champion Dies After Allegedly Being Pushed Off Train

Indian Fencing Champion Boards Women's Compartment To Check On Ailing Wife, Thrown Off Train, Dies
Commuters hang onto an overcrowded suburbun railway train on the Central Railway (CR) line in Mumbai on April 19, 2012. Three people were killed and around 14 were injured when they fell off a moving suburbun train on the CR line. Thousands of commuters in Mumbai had a harrowing time as services on the Central Railway line were thrown out of gear following a fire in a signal cabin between two suburbun railway stations on Tuesday night causing heavy damage to signalling gears. Mumbai's suburban trains or 'locals' carry an estimated seven million people every day and are a lifeline in an overcrowded city with traffic-clogged, potholed roads. Train doors are normally open to the elements to combat high temperatures and humidity, with many travellers also hanging out of carriages or perching between them. AFP PHOTO/Indranil MUKHERJEE (Photo credit should read INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP/Getty Images)
INDRANIL MUKHERJEE via Getty Images
Commuters hang onto an overcrowded suburbun railway train on the Central Railway (CR) line in Mumbai on April 19, 2012. Three people were killed and around 14 were injured when they fell off a moving suburbun train on the CR line. Thousands of commuters in Mumbai had a harrowing time as services on the Central Railway line were thrown out of gear following a fire in a signal cabin between two suburbun railway stations on Tuesday night causing heavy damage to signalling gears. Mumbai's suburban trains or 'locals' carry an estimated seven million people every day and are a lifeline in an overcrowded city with traffic-clogged, potholed roads. Train doors are normally open to the elements to combat high temperatures and humidity, with many travellers also hanging out of carriages or perching between them. AFP PHOTO/Indranil MUKHERJEE (Photo credit should read INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP/Getty Images)

A national level fencing champion, Hoshiyar Singh, died after being allegedly pushed off a moving train by railway police personnel near Mathura when he entered a compartment reserved for women to check on his ailing wife, according to reports.

Times of India quoted Munesh Kumar Singh, a constable with the Delhi Police and Singh's elder brother, as saying that the fencing player was travelling with his mother, wife and their 10-month-old baby after attending a religious event at Kasganj district when the incident happened.

"While the ladies sat in the women's coach with the baby, my brother was travelling in the general coach. My sister-in-law complained of dizziness and my mother called my brother on mobile phone," Munesh Kumar said.

Singh's father told ANI that the railway police asked Singh to either get off the ladies' compartment or pay up. Soon, an argument broke out and police personnel allegedly pushed Singh out of the moving train.

"The GRP personnel asked my son to leave the coach or pay Rs 200... By that time the train started moving," Singh's father said. The victim's wife, who was inconsolable, demanded strict punishment for the GRP personnel.

"They pushed my husband off the train...I was not well and I called him to the ladies' coach. He was talking to me when the Railway Police came to him asked what he was doing in the ladies' coach," she said. "In the meantime, the train started moving and they pushed him... I want that strict punishment should be given to them," she added.

On Friday, the Indian Railways said they would take appropriate action.

"He was coming from Kasganj to Mathura and he entered ladies coach. We have ordered investigation into the matter, once the report comes we will take appropriate action...We have asked senior officials to probe the matter," Minister of State for Railways, Manoj Sinha, was quoted as saying by ANI.

Singh won a bronze in an under-17 championship in 2005, according to NDTV.

An FIR has been filed against an unnamed constable, NDTV reported, but police claim that the athlete slipped and fell when he tried to board the moving train.

"He was on his way to Mathura. He had got off to drink water and while trying to catch up with the moving train he slipped and got stuck," a police officer told the channel.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.