Para-Athlete Neeraj Yadav Death: Female Friend Recounts Final Hours Before Body Was Discovered Beside SUV

Neeraj Yadav, a 42-year-old three-time Asian Para Games gold medallist, was discovered dead beside his SUV near Maujpur metro station in northeast Delhi on Monday night in what police suspect was a suicide.

Yadav hailed from Uttar Pradesh and ran Anshneer Sports Academy in Haryana’s Sonipat. He is survived by his wife and their three-year-old daughter.

Around 12.08 am on Tuesday, GTB Hospital alerted police that doctors in its emergency ward had declared a patient dead after he was brought in, the publication reported. Police are now probing the death.

Hospital Transfer Details

A woman who brought Yadav to hospital told police she had been friends with him since December 2025. In her statement, she said she went to Sonipat on October 27 to meet him and tell him she could no longer remain in touch with him.

She said Yadav then drove her to Maujpur in his SUV. At about 9 pm, she went back to the stretch near Gate No. 1 of Maujpur metro station to see how he was doing and found him on the road next to the vehicle, after which she took him to hospital.

An officer said a team reached Rajiv Gandhi Hospital, where the emergency services of GTB Hospital are currently being operated, and the body had already been shifted to GTB Hospital’s mortuary.

Police Inquiry Underway

Jafrabad police station has initiated proceedings under BNSS Section 194, which covers police inquiries and reports in cases of suicide and other unnatural deaths.

An officer said they have not found any suicide note or video.

The family wants answers. A relative told reporters, "He had struggled, fought his way through difficulties and continued playing. It is difficult for me to believe that he could take the extreme step." The relative also said he did not know the woman who was with Yadav before his death and asked that her role be looked into.

Sporting Career And Doping

Yadav had lived with post-polio residual paralysis since he was seven. He first competed in wheelchair tennis from 2005 to 2012 before moving to para-athletics.

His rise gathered pace in 2015. At the Delhi State Athletics Meet that year, he won gold in shot put, javelin and discus, marking his breakthrough in the sport.

Yadav broke through internationally at the 2018 Asian Para Games in Jakarta. He took gold in the men’s F55 javelin throw with an Asian-record mark of 29.84 metres.

Yadav added two more Asian Para Games titles in Hangzhou in 2023. He won gold in javelin and discus, taking his career tally at the continental event to three.

An anti-doping case later clouded his career. The National Anti-Doping Agency provisionally suspended him after a sample taken outside competition in Bengaluru in 2023 tested positive for stanozolol, an anabolic steroid.

Yadav challenged the process through the disciplinary route. He sought DNA testing of his sample during the anti-doping proceedings. He was later banned for four years.

Coach On Distress

India’s chief para-athletics coach S Satyanarayana said Yadav may have been under emotional distress after missing the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games because his doping suspension had not ended.

“Medals at the Asian Para Games can bring substantial govt cash awards. But his suspension had not ended, and he could not compete. It is possible this affected him deeply,” Satyanarayana said.