Three-time Asian Para Games gold medallist Neeraj Yadav, 42, allegedly died by suicide in northeast Delhi's Maujpur area late on Tuesday night, police said on Wednesday, according to news agency IANS. He was taken to hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

Source: IANS

According to police, Jafrabad Police Station received information from GTB Hospital that a person had been brought to the emergency department and declared brought dead. A preliminary police enquiry found that Yadav was found lying on the road beside his car near Gate No. 1 of Maujpur Metro Station on Tuesday evening and was rushed to hospital by a friend.

Police have initiated an investigation under Section 194 of the BNSS at Jafrabad Police Station, IANS reported, and further investigation into the circumstances of his death is in progress. The postmortem examination was under way at GTB Hospital in Delhi, PTI reported.

Indian para-athletics head coach S Satyanarayana confirmed the death. "Neeraj has died by suicide. Unfortunately, such a thing has happened," Satyanarayana said, adding that he could not determine the exact reason behind the incident.

A decorated F55 thrower

Yadav, who was from Uttar Pradesh and competed in the F55 category, won the javelin gold at the Jakarta Asian Para Games in 2018 with an Asian record of 29.84 metres, and won gold in both javelin and discus at the Hangzhou Asian Para Games in 2023. Diagnosed with post-polio residual paralysis at the age of seven, he played wheelchair tennis for about seven years before turning to para-athletics in 2015.

Reports said Yadav had been under emotional stress after a doping suspension kept him out of the Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya earlier this month, and that his two Hangzhou gold medals were later stripped following a positive dope test. His coach said the exact reason for the step has not been established. Yadav is survived by his wife and a three-year-old daughter, IANS reported.