Former India national team rugby player arrested on charges of triple murder

What's the story?

Indian rugby player, Parmeet Dabas was arrested earlier this month on charges of a triple murder, with one of the victims being a police officer, according to a report in The Indian Express. On April 30, three people, including Delhi Police ASI Vijay Singh were repeatedly shot at while sitting inside a car in Delhi’s Paschim Vihar area. Dabas had gone absconding ever since then.

A 9 mm pistol that contained two live cartridges in its magazine was also recovered from his possession, as stated by a senior officer.

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The 28-year-old represented India in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan. Dabas had played for the Lions and Hurricanes, two of the top Delhi teams and had cracked India's U-19 squad, before the first transgression.

In his life as a gang member, he was called ‘Bhanja’ (nephew), while Satyawan was the gang leader and the older relative was known as ‘Sonu’.

The heart of the matter

In another report, Dabas had got hold of 6 SIM cards on fake IDs for Sonu and had been tracking his victim for a brief period of 3-4 days before carrying out the attack. He was arrested from a flat in New Delhi which he had rented while planning the murder.

Close ones stated that till the time that Dabas was a rugby player, he was able to keep himself away from the lures of violence. However, following a pancreatic surgery due to excessive drinking, Dabas found himself under immense debt that dragged him back to the world of crime.

Rugby took a backseat after his surgery which further deteriorated his condition professionally, mentally as well as financially.

Besides this, Dabas has a criminal record history of being arrested with a friend Sandeep Chawla, in a 2007 murder case, after which, he remained in jail for a period of three years. He decided to give rugby another shot after his first release.

What's next?

Though there is no proof of a definite reason as to why the triple murder was carried out, various sources have given their take on it.

According to Sports24, deputy commissioner Pramod Singh Kushwaha was quoted saying "It seems like a case of honour killing because Dabas' distant relative wanted to get rid of a person who married his sister against the wishes of the family,". Besides this, there are also speculations of a gang connection.

Author's take

While India as a country is gaining wide recognition on the sports front, it is disheartening for sports enthusiasts as well as the nation as whole to witness the mingling of sportsmen with crime.