Palinder wanted to represent India in 2020 Olympics, says friend

Palinder always dreamt of representing India in the Olympics and had even got the Olympic symbol tattooed on his right hand, says Ajeet Rawat, a mentor-cum-friend of the 18-year-old athlete who allegedly committed suicide at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Wednesday.

Mahesh Pal, the father of the athlete, who allegedly hanged himself to death, says he does not know what went wrong and why his son took such an extreme step.

Rawat, who knew Chaudhary since 2012, says he was a focused, hard-working person.

"He knew what he wanted. He wanted to represent India in the Olympics. He had even got the Olympics symbol tattooed on his right hand.

"He had set his sights on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and was preparing for it. He would also say if he missed out on a 2020 berth, he would try for the 2024 Paris Olympics," Rawat says.

Rawat says Chaudhary was a great friend and it would be hard for him to come to terms with his death.

"In fact, I used to speak to him on a daily basis. I spoke with him on Tuesday around 2 pm. He would share everything with me. It is hard to believe that he took this extreme step," Rawat says.

He says he spoke to Chaudhary about a competition in Aligarh that was scheduled for November 28 and 29.

SAI Director General Neelam Kapur earlier said, "It seems a family matter related to monetary issues. What we came to know is that the boy had an argument with his father in the morning on the phone after which his sister came to meet him in the evening."