Twin basketball tragedies rock Haryana: 2 teens die after rusted poles collapse; sports department orders removal of all dangerous equipment
Published on: Nov. 27, 2025, 6:54 a.m. | Source: Times of India
In a span of 48 hours, two teenage basketball players died in horrific accidents in Haryana’s Rohtak and Bahadurgarh after hoop poles collapsed on them, turning courts into crime scenes and throwing aharsh spotlight on Haryana’s sports infrastructure and governance. District sports officer Anoop Singh has been suspended. A heart-wrenching CCTV video captured the death of 16-year-old schoolboy Hardik Rathi — a fivetime state player, selected for the U-17 School Nationals in Chhattisgarh — in Lakhan Majra, near Rohtak, on Tuesday. In the 9-second clip, he runs in from the three-point line, simulates a dunk, and grabs the hoop for a second — acommon habit with players. Even in the grainy footage, one can see the horror in his eyes when the 750kg pole snaps, takes him down, and crushes his ribs. Tragedy didn’t come without warning, say sportspersons Other players sprinted to Hardik’s aid and took him to hospital where he was declared ‘brought dead’. At Lakhan Majra, there is anguish & anger over the “avoidable tragedy”. Just two days earlier, there was an ominous warning when 15-year-old Aman, a Class 10 student, died in similar fashion at Bahadurgarh’s Shaheed Brigadier Hoshiar Singh stadium, some 65km from Lakhan Majra.
