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Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Chandigarh: Book explores Olympic glory & killing of India's ‘Penalty King'
Celebrated sports journalist and author Sundeep Misra on Monday launched his fifth book, 'Gunned Down - Murder of an Olympic Champion', which traces the extraordinary life and unsolved murder of Indian hockey great Prithipal Singh. (From left) Senior journalist Arup Ghosh, former hockey team Dilip Tirkey, author Sundeep Misra, former India hockey captain and MLA Pargat Singh and Olympic gold medallist Harbinder Singh at Hotel Taj in Chandigarh on Tuesday. (Keshav Singh/HT) Prithipal, known as the 'Penalty King' and one of world's most-feared penalty corner specialists, was part of India's Olympic medal haul with a silver in 1960, gold in 1964 and bronze in 1968. He was the first hockey player to receive the Arjuna Award and later served as the chairman of selectors when India won the 1975 Hockey World Cup. His life ended tragically in 1983 when he was shot dead by his own students at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, while he was working as dean, students' welfare at the institution. Speaking at the launch, Misra recalled how his father first introduced him to Prithipal's hockey feats in the late 1970s. 'A sense of duality that resonated personally with me was that he was a superstar at the same time, extremely humble,' said Misra. A panel discussion was also held during the launch, moderated by senior journalist Arup Ghosh, and featuring Olympic gold medallist Harbinder Singh, former India hockey captain and MLA Pargat Singh, political ideologue Harcharan Singh Bains and retired professor Ajaib Singh Tiwana. Two other former captains of the Indian Men's hockey team – Dileep Tirkey and Sardar Singh were also in attendance. Pargat lauded Prithipal's 'phenomenal commitment to the game' and lamented the compromised murder investigation, while Bains remembered him as 'an iconic elder brother for girls on campus' and a feared disciplinarian. The author revealed that completing the book took nearly six years due to the lack of accessible resources on the legend. 'There are no feature or report pieces that look at Prithipal more as a person than a player,' he said, comparing the dearth of material to the extensive literature on his personal favourite, George Foreman. Misra also shared that he is already halfway through his next 'murder-sports' book, a work of fiction. Present on the occasion, Hockey India president and former India captain, Tirkey said this about the book, 'I only came to know about Prithipal's feats in 1983 when he died. That was a time when there was less information on hockey players. Salute to the author for writing about his life and also delving into the unsolved mystery of his death.'
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Sport
- Indian Express
The life and tragic killing of hockey legend Prithipal Singh
Before delving into the life of Prithipal Singh, India's legendary penalty corner specialist and member of the 1960 Olympic silver medal, 1964 gold medal and 1968 bronze medal-winning hockey teams, author and journalist Sundeep Mishra wants to explain how his fascination with the mercurial defender began. Prithipal, 53, then Dean Student Welfare at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in Ludhiana, was shot dead by two assailants on the PAU campus on May 20, 1983. In his book Gunned Down, Mishra retraces Singh's journey from Olympic glory to the events leading up to his murder. Born in Nankana Sahib in erstwhile Pakistan, Singh became one of the world's most feared penalty corner experts. He made his Olympic debut in Rome in 1960, where the Udham Singh-led Indian team lost 1-0 to Pakistan in the final, though Prithipal was the tournament's highest scorer. He repeated the feat in the 1964 Tokyo Games, netting 11 goals as Charanjit Singh's India beat Pakistan 1-0 for gold. In 1968, as co-captain with Gurbux Singh, he led India to a bronze in Mexico, again topping the scorers' list. 'There was no doubt Prithipal was one of the best in the sporting world,' says Mishra. 'Charanjit Singh often said he devised strategies even coaches could not fathom. He took on the Indian Hockey Federation's top officials, and on the field, teams like Australia, Holland and Pakistan were mortally afraid of him.' After stints with Punjab Police and Railways, Prithipal joined PAU as Dean Student Welfare. In the months before his death, the campus was roiled by unrest, beginning with the murder of Punjab Student Union (PSU) general secretary Prithipal Singh Randhawa, followed days later by the killing of handball player Piara Singh. Mishra's book details how Singh clashed with PSU leaders and opposed student politics, as well as the botched police investigation after his killing outside Thapar House on the morning of May 20, 1983. Among the revelations are a list of 16 students Singh allegedly believed were conspiring to kill him, later denied in court by the university official who found it, and a file from Singh's home containing allegations of corruption involving staff, students and then vice-chancellor Dr Amrik Singh Cheema. Singh had reportedly sought a meeting with the Chancellor and was scheduled to meet the BB Mahajan Commission on June 8, 1983. He had also written to the Ludhiana SSP and the Vice-Chancellor warning of threats to his life, even predicting May 20 as a possible date of attack. One accused, Bachittar Singh, surrendered in court, confessed, and led police to the murder weapon which was confirmed by forensic analysis before retracting his statement and alleging coercion. The case was later dismissed. 'Prithipal believed there was no place for politics in a university,' says Mishra. 'His unwillingness to step back, much like on the hockey field, was part of his personality. But he could not gauge the political undercurrents in Punjab and at PAU then.' Mishra laments that Singh's legacy has been overshadowed by his killing. 'The government and system failed to find his killers. We lost not just a brilliant player but an articulate mind who could have enriched Indian hockey. Without him, the sport went into a long Olympic medal drought,' he says.
India Today
20-05-2025
- India Today
The day they killed an Olympic hockey champion: Prithipal Singh
On the languid morning of May 20th, 1983, forty-one years ago, as Ludhiana awakened with its usual bustle of thickening traffic and hurried commuters, a different pace unfolded within the sprawling 1200-acre campus of Punjab Agricultural University. Adjacent to the then-developing Sarabha Nagar, the university grounds saw a gentler stirring, with some already engaged in their tasks and others just beginning their characteristic thump of the Royal Enfield 350 echoed, making its way to Thapar Hall, the administrative block from the PAU residential area. The deep rumble of a "Bullet" – or "Bult," as it was known in the rural heartlands of Punjab – was a familiar sound on the PAU campus. This 350cc motorcycle, with its robust build, wasn't merely a vehicle; it was a cultural icon, deeply intertwined with a sense of machismo in the Singh, the celebrated three-time Olympic medallist, silver (60'), Gold (64') and bronze (68'); the gold at Tokyo, the crowning glory of his storeyed career, which also included join-captainship of the 68' Mexico Olympic team, the aura also stemmed from his being top scorer at all the three Olympic Games, arrived on his familiar Royal Enfield. In the campus to many he was Prithipal or 'Pirthi Paji'.advertisement Dressed in a crisp white shirt, a light green turban, and grey cotton trousers, he dismounted and parked his motorcycle in its usual spot beneath the shade of the trees beside Thapar Hall.'Paji'.The address was barely a whisper. An as Prithipal's left hand gripped the bike's left handlebar and his right hand manoeuvred the heavy, nearly 200kg Royal Enfield onto its stand, the precise moment arrived. The clock was nearing 9 am, perhaps a few minutes steadying the motorcycle, Prithipal turned his head back, a half swivel. In those final seconds, he likely never saw his killer's face clearly, only an outstretched hand and a partially concealed face. A bullet struck him in the face. A vivid crimson stain blossomed against the white of his shirt. The Olympic Champion's legs buckled, the hands sliding off the bike. In the next second, the second killer stepped forward, the bullet, hitting him in the back. Crimson bloomed on the white of his two assailants walked away swiftly, then paused. The second shooter advanced once more. From the corner of his eye, he had noticed Prithipal trying to get up. They couldn't afford any risks. The Dean of Students Welfare had a reputation for being formidable and unyielding; they couldn't allow him to survive. It was common knowledge that Prithipal carried a gun tucked into his waistband behind his back, and they feared he might reach for more shots were fired. The two killers, who would later be identified as students, walked away swiftly. Roughly fifty meters in the distance, the sudden roar of a motorcycle engine accelerating announced their gunshots froze the two dozen or so eyewitnesses – some accounts even placed the figure at over fifty – a group clustered on the ground floor, others on the first, and a few just entering the administrative block. For a moment, everyone stood motionless, allowing the killers ample time to flee. As the initial shock dissipated, confusion gave way to utter chaos. Prithipal, likely clinging to life, was rushed by car to the Christian Medical College, where he was pronounced across the state buzzed with urgent calls – the Vice-Chancellor's office, the Chancellor's office (who also served as the Punjab governor), the Chief Minister's office – while police jeeps and cars sped from the Sarabha Nagar Police Station. The political machinery absorbed the shocking news. By noon, the word had spread throughout the state and even reached the desk of the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, in the nation's capital: Olympic champion Prithipal Singh had been shot a way, it was the culmination of almost five years of unrest at the PAU which started with the death of a student leader, Prithipal Singh Randhawa, followed by the murder of Piara Singh, another student and a celebrated handball player. The assassination of Prithipal Singh was seemingly foretold when a student leader, Ajaib Singh, at Piara's Bhog ceremony on May 11th, picked up a handful of Piara's ashes and vowed to eliminate chilling reality was that Prithipal had, in a way, foreseen this tragic fate. He had sent letters to the SSP Police in Ludhiana and the Vice-Chancellor, explicitly stating a death threat against him and even suggesting May 20th as a possible date. Yet, whether through deliberate inaction or sheer negligence, a contingent of 6-8 policemen, despite being present on campus under the command of Sub-Inspector Ravinder Singh and ASI Baggar Singh along with seven other constables, failed to position themselves either along his usual route or at Thapar Hall. This lapse fuelled numerous conspiracy theories. Prithipal himself, however, did little to avert the danger. Despite being advised to travel by car, the man who had breached some of the world's strongest defences, the leading scorer for India in three consecutive Olympic Games, the undisputed 'King' of penalty corners, likely dismissed the threat posed by a seemingly disorganized group of students seeking his in Prithipal's trouser pocket, Victor Dasiah, the acting general superintendent of the CMC, discovered a list containing the names of 16 students. This list had been given to Prithipal by another student named Pritpal. However, Victor would later deny providing any such list to the police during court by one, the eyewitnesses turned hostile. One initially identified an accused individual but then recanted, stating he "might have been mistaken." The judiciary did not delve deeply into these inconsistencies. Meanwhile, the police recovered a file from Prithipal's residence. This file contained a substantial dossier, meticulously compiled over three years of painstaking investigation, detailing alleged corruption within the campus and the purported nexus between students, teaching staff, and the Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Amrik Singh had sought a meeting with the Chancellor through the Vice-Chancellor. The BB Mahajan Commission, established by the Governor and University Chancellor, AP Sharma, to investigate the university's administration, including the corruption allegations, granted him an appointment for June 8th. Tragically, June never arrived for crucial dossier vanished. Considering Prithipal Singh's stature and prominence, the subsequent investigation was remarkably sluggish. Even after one of the accused, Bachittar Singh, surrendered in court, confessed to the crime, and even led the police to the location of the pistol and live cartridges – with the Central Forensic Laboratory of Chandigarh confirming it was the murder weapon – Bachittar later recanted, claiming he had been coerced into confessing. Ultimately, the cases were dismissed by the was a failure of the University; it's leadership and a complete breakdown of the administration. Prithipal didn't help himself either. His strong personality, the Olympian halo, and his larger-than-life presence blinded him. Those who knew him well also knew this side of his character. Loyalty, respect and regard mattered deeply to him. He expected a certain level of deference. His decisions were firm, and he had a clear sense of right and wrong. But sometimes what he saw as 'right' may not have been right for the situation that that tragic sequence of events, beginning with the death of Prithipal Singh Randhawa and continuing through the murder of Piara Singh, Prithipal Singh himself did not retreat. He neither sought legal recourse nor attempted to comprehend the intense anger brewing within the student body. Rather than trying to quell the unrest, he became entangled in it. And, while he may not have been directly involved, the campus, the students, and the Punjab Students Union believed otherwise; they were convinced he supported a faction opposed to the had never backed down from a fight –be it on the hockey field, in opposition to Indian Hockey Federation President Ashwini Kumar, or even when his participation in the 1964 Olympic Games was threatened. This was university politics, and he believed this was his is a recurring theme in tragedy: Misra is a senior sports journalist and author. His latest book, The Killing of An Olympic Champion, is due soon.
