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BENGALURU: Former Asian Championship medallist, Iqbal Singh Boparai, was arrested in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania for a double murder on Sunday.
One of Singh’s close friends said he couldn’t believe the news of the heinous crime committed by 63-yearold Singh who won a bronze medal in shot put for India at the 1983 Asian Athletics Championships held in Kuwait.
“I just can’t believe that Iqbal killed his mother and wife as he was such a friendly person. I have gone to his place and stayed at his house in Philadelphia. His wife is such a loving and caring lady and his mother must be in her 90s,” the former sportsman told TOI from Jamshedpur.
“I don’t know what went wrong with him but he was under severe mental stress for the last few months and was on medication. His children are well settled and only Iqbal can tell why he did this. He even injured himself and is now in hospital,” he added.
He said Iqbal migrated to the USA after excelling as an athlete in the 1980s. “He worked with Tata Steel and then he joined Punjab Police as an inspector. He was posted in Jalandhar,” Iqbal’s friend recalled.
Singh, who hailed from Urmar Tanda in Hoshiarpur district, was one of India’s top shot putters in the 80s and his best was a heave of 18.77m that won him the gold at the Permit Meet held in New Delhi in September, 1988. In India’s all-time list, Singh figures in the top-20.
According to local media reports in the US, Singh was charged on Monday for “killing his wife and mother”.
Singh told police officers who reached his residence on Sunday morning following a call to 911, that he had killed his wife and mother. “Singh advised officers that he had killed his wife and mother and they were inside the residence,” the delcotimes.com reported, quoting a release from the police.
The report said police found an elderly woman’s body on the first floor bedroom and the second victim’s body on the second floor bedroom. Both victims, the police said, had stab wounds. “An affidavit written by a detective indicates both victims had their throats slit. Police recovered a knife covered in blood from the kitchen counter,” the report said.
Singh’s friend told TOI that it was Singh’s children who called the police after he told his son: ‘I killed your mother and grandmother. Call the police to come and get me.”
Friends shocked at the crime
Singh’s friends from the athletics fraternity said they were shocked to hear about the news. “It is a terrible news and I still can’t believe it that Íqbal did it. For us he was always a humble person who could not harm anyone,” a former athlete told TOI from the USA.
“I spoke to him a few months back but there was never any hint that he was having any kind of trouble. We were all together in Tata Steel. Singh migrated to the USA more than two decades back,” he added. “He was working as a cab driver and his children are doing well.”
One of Singh’s close friends said he couldn’t believe the news of the heinous crime committed by 63-yearold Singh who won a bronze medal in shot put for India at the 1983 Asian Athletics Championships held in Kuwait.
“I just can’t believe that Iqbal killed his mother and wife as he was such a friendly person. I have gone to his place and stayed at his house in Philadelphia. His wife is such a loving and caring lady and his mother must be in her 90s,” the former sportsman told TOI from Jamshedpur.
“I don’t know what went wrong with him but he was under severe mental stress for the last few months and was on medication. His children are well settled and only Iqbal can tell why he did this. He even injured himself and is now in hospital,” he added.
He said Iqbal migrated to the USA after excelling as an athlete in the 1980s. “He worked with Tata Steel and then he joined Punjab Police as an inspector. He was posted in Jalandhar,” Iqbal’s friend recalled.
Singh, who hailed from Urmar Tanda in Hoshiarpur district, was one of India’s top shot putters in the 80s and his best was a heave of 18.77m that won him the gold at the Permit Meet held in New Delhi in September, 1988. In India’s all-time list, Singh figures in the top-20.
According to local media reports in the US, Singh was charged on Monday for “killing his wife and mother”.
Singh told police officers who reached his residence on Sunday morning following a call to 911, that he had killed his wife and mother. “Singh advised officers that he had killed his wife and mother and they were inside the residence,” the delcotimes.com reported, quoting a release from the police.
The report said police found an elderly woman’s body on the first floor bedroom and the second victim’s body on the second floor bedroom. Both victims, the police said, had stab wounds. “An affidavit written by a detective indicates both victims had their throats slit. Police recovered a knife covered in blood from the kitchen counter,” the report said.
Singh’s friend told TOI that it was Singh’s children who called the police after he told his son: ‘I killed your mother and grandmother. Call the police to come and get me.”
Friends shocked at the crime
Singh’s friends from the athletics fraternity said they were shocked to hear about the news. “It is a terrible news and I still can’t believe it that Íqbal did it. For us he was always a humble person who could not harm anyone,” a former athlete told TOI from the USA.
“I spoke to him a few months back but there was never any hint that he was having any kind of trouble. We were all together in Tata Steel. Singh migrated to the USA more than two decades back,” he added. “He was working as a cab driver and his children are doing well.”
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