Pall of gloom descends upon families of five powerlifters

New Delhi: Saksham Yadav wanted to win more gold medals for his country, Yogesh was looking forward to his upcoming nuptials and Tikamchand was set to become a father.

However, a fatal road accident in Rohini on early Sunday morning not only claimed the lives of the three men, as well as that of Harish and Saurabh, but also left their family members in tears, grief and pain.

Yogesh's family was preparing for his marriage, scheduled on February 10, having booked buses and printed wedding cards for Yogesh's marriage – but all their efforts were in vain.

Yogesh's sister Nisha said on Sunday that the marriage was on 10 February and plans were made but the accident had broken them from inside. Yogesh worked as a photographer.

Barely few metres away from Yogesh's residence lived his brother-in-law Tikamchand, who – according to the victim's relatives – along with his pregnant wife was awaiting his first-born child.

"Tikamchand had celebrated his birthday on Saturday. His mother had told him not to go anywhere, but he went in a car and died," said Reena, Tikamchand's cousin, adding that he was the lone breadwinner in his family.

Located a few houses away from Tikamchand's house is that of Harish, whose house is drowning in grief and pain.

Harish's father works in Kolkata and began preparing to return to Delhi on hearing the news of his son's demise.

However, the most heart-wrenching scenes were scene at the residence of 18-year-old Saurabh, whose traumatised mother Chanchal was seen holding a childhood photo of her deceased son and asking everyone to let her see his face.

The woman was seen showing photos of her son to other women and asking about his whereabouts.

"After the death of her husband, Chanchal would remain quiet and not talk to anyone," one of the residents in the neighbourhood, Dixon, told Millennium Post.

According to the residents of Sanjay Basti, where the four men belonged, this is the first time that such a serious incident has happened.

OP Verma, a resident of the Basti, said, "The nature of these children was very good and they were cooperative with everyone. Few of them have also represented the State in sports."

Saksham Yadav, who belonged to Nangloi, had won a gold medal for India in the 2017 powerlifting championship in Moscow.

According to his coach Sunil Lochab, all four deceased wanted to be like Saksham and had invited him to a birthday party in the Basti.

"For them, it was a proud moment to celebrate the birthday with their idol in powerlifting," said Lochab.

Lochab said he was on his way home, while he was discussing Saksham's future plans in the sport.

"He told me that he will start preparation for 2018 from Monday, as he wanted to win more gold medals for the country," said Lochab, adding that he was the most disciplined student who only focused on his career.

Saksham had won a medal in the junior category and another in the senior category.

Police said on Sunday that there are few questions that are yet to be answered, like who was driving the car.

Other questions will be cleared after the statement of the victim Rohit is taken, who is stated to be critical, cops said.