Palinder dreamt of winning an Olympic medal and joining the Army: Friends

The only child of his parents, Palinder, was willing to join the Indian army and serve the nation. He had even cracked the sports trials and was supposed to appear for the written test in November. His friends recalled him as a passionate athlete and took it as a joke when people informed them about his alleged suicide.

Palinder's friends stated that he wanted to win an Olympic medal for the country. "He was a passionate sportsperson. He was not just good in athletics but also a fantabulous long jumper. It's hard to believe that he is no more," said Ajit Kumar, Palinder's friend.

Mahesh Pal, Palinder's father stated that his son seemed perfectly fine when he spoke to him at 3 pm on Tuesday. "He was my only child. Whatever I had, belonged to him. Everything was fine, I don't know why he took this extreme step," said Pal breaking into tears.

Palinder had started playing the sport around six years ago. "He was good at heart. By nature, he was the best among all the athletes. He would practice every day and play the sport religiously," said Vikas Kumar, a fellow athlete.

In a statement issued by Neelam Kapur, Director General, Sports Authority of India she said "Palinder joined the National Athletics Academy of SAI in November 2016. In 2017, he was selected for Asian Youth Championships at Bangkok and won a gold medal in the relay race. He participated in the World Youth Championship in July 2017. This year, he was away at Jabalpur till July to complete the joining formalities in the Indian Army, where he had been selected. He joined regular training at the academy in JLN, thereafter."