New Delhi on saturday, a day after he was shot at by the Haryana Police in an encounter
Saurabh Duggal, Hindustan Times, and  Ananya Bhradwaj in Indian Express
Chandigarh, December 01, 2012

The confusion over the registration number of a car has resulted in the Haryana Police putting a question mark on a wrestler’s future. The information with the police was that a gang was travelling in the Verna bearing a Punjab number.

Acting on the tip-off, the police team fired
at the vehicle, which instead had the national campers, near the northern Sports Authority of India Centre in Sonepat on Wednesday night. 

Junior international wrestler Gurpal Singh was shot in the back while two other national campers, Manav and Surajbir, had a narrow escape.

The cops fired five rounds, three of which hit the dashboard, while one smashed the car’s taillight and another hit Gurpal. “Gurpal and the other campers had gone to Sonepat after attending the evening training session at the SAI Centre in Bahalgarh. On the way back, they were intercepted by an armed Haryana Police team in plain clothes.

“Without disclosing their identity, they asked the trio to step out of the car. Thinking that they were going to be robbed, the wrestlers tried to speed away. This made the cops suspicious and they opened fire, and one bullet hit Gurpal,” Raj Singh, secretary general, Wrestling Federation of India, told HT. “The wrestlers went back to the SAI Centre where coaches and doctors rushed Gurpal to the Jaipur Golden Hospital. Fortunately, the impact of the bullet was reduced as it had hit a windowpane, and the wound is not deep,” he added. Gurpal (96kg freestyle) is the nephew of legendary wrestler Kartar Singh.

“It is unprofessional on the part of the Haryana Police, and the incident could have been worse. The team should have disclosed their identity when they stopped the wrestlers,” said Kartar, who is also an IPS officer.

“A case under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC has been registered on the complaint of Gurpal Singh. We are looking into the matter and one of my senior officers is investigating the case,” said Arun Nehra, superintendent of police, Sonepat

Prodigy

Gurpal Singh’s skill caught the attention of Wrestling Federation of India and he was called up for the camp near Sonepat.

His first senior national tournament had ended in disappointment as Gurpal, a BA-I student, finished ninth at the National Wrestling Championship in Ranchi two years ago. The following year, at the 34th National Games in Ranchi, he claimed a bronze medal. Before the national games, Gurpal had won gold in the junior national championship held in Jammu.

Born in Sur Singh village in Tarn Taran district, Punjab, Gurpal was seen as a flag-bearer of the family tradition of wrestling. Gurpal was coached by his father at the village akhara when he was 16.

Father Sarwan, an IPS officer, took leave without pay for three years to train Gurpal. The hard work paid off as Gurpal made heads turn with a gold medal at his first ever sub-junior national championship at Jalandhar in 2008.

He started in 120-kg category and finally settled for the 96-kg category on the suggestion of uncle Kartar. Gurpal had also competed in few invitational tournaments in Uzbekistan and Australia.

He won the under-17 National Wrestling Championship; the Junior under-19 National Championship; and the Australia Cup in 2008. He won a bronze in the senior National Games.