Ghaziabad: A 22-year-old para-athlete was detained in Ghaziabad on Sunday for allegedly murdering his compatriot Chirag Tyagi (24), whose body was found in Sai Upvan on Saturday.The accused, Yash Khatik, a resident of Gopalpuram in Muradnagar, allegedly shot Chirag dead because he nursed a deep grudge against him. Yash had been banned by World Para Athlete (WPA) in Dec 2025 after documents submitted to prove his disability were deemed insufficient. He suspected Chirag — who, according to their shared coach Gajendra Singh, had helped prepare those documents — of deliberately filing incorrect details, which cost him his place at the Youth Asian Games.Chirag had just returned to Delhi after qualifying for the Asian Games in Japan and was widely regarded as one of India’s most promising para-sportspersons. He had recently won gold at the Indian Open Para Athletics International competition in Bengaluru and competed in the T-12 category for visually impaired athletes at the national level, representing Uttar Pradesh.According to the complaint filed by his uncle Rajesh Tyagi, Chirag was staying at the old hostel of Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium after returning from Bengaluru. “On Saturday, around 7am, I spoke to him. He said he would be home, in Muradnagar, by 10.30–11am with Yash, and asked me to tell his mother to cook dal and chawal for lunch. He left the hostel at 9am,” Rajesh said.When Chirag did not arrive, the family repeatedly called his phone, which went unanswered. “Around 4pm, a police officer called and said Chirag had met with an accident. When we reached the govt hospital, we found out he had been murdered,” Rajesh said.Police said Yash had lured Chirag to Sai Upvan on the pretext of returning Rs 50,000 he owed him. Chirag, who was on his way to Ghaziabad railway station to receive a friend arriving from Indore, agreed to stop there first. “The two walked together for some time after Yash told Chirag someone was coming with the money. He then shot Chirag multiple times from behind and fled,” said deputy commissioner of police Dhaval Jaiswal.A senior officer said the accused purchased a pistol from a man in Muradnagar for Rs 50,000 along with two bullets. The officer said he also shot both bullets.Locals alerted police after finding a body in the park. Officers recovered a phone from the body and, when Chirag’s friend kept calling, answered it — which is how the victim was identified. The woman who arrived from Indore said that she and Chirag met on Instagram and she met him in Bengaluru. She had spoken to Chirag on Saturday morning, but he was unreachable after she arrived in Ghaziabad. Later, her call was received by the police, who informed her about Chirag’s death.An FIR has been registered against Yash under Section 103(1) (murder) of the BNS at Kotwali police station. “We are examining CCTV footage and connecting the dots. The weapon will be recovered soon,” Jaiswal said.Singh said the two had been like brothers. “Chirag brought Yash to me a year ago and asked me to train him. He supported Yash in every way, including financially, and personally prepared his competition documents. After WPA rejected those documents in Dec 2025, Yash’s attitude towards Chirag changed completely,” Singh said.JP Singh, chairman of Power Para Athlete India, confirmed that WPA had found the documents insufficient to establish an underlying health condition. “They did not prove that Yash was disabled, which is why he was banned,” he said.Following the murder, family members and locals blocked a road in Muradnagar, demanding an encounter of the accused.
