Nearly a year-long alleged rivalry between 25-year-old Chirag Tyagi, the Paralympic athlete who was shot dead on May 30 in Ghaziabad, and another Paralympic athlete, who has been apprehended in the murder case and was his junior, preceded the killing, DCP City and Trans-Hindon Dhawal Jaiswal said on Sunday. The autopsy reports have confirmed gunshot injury as the cause of the death.According to a senior police officer, the victim and the suspect were friends earlier and even stayed together for a few years, while training in Delhi, before the accused returned home last year following disqualification in an event. “They both participated in the same category, for runners who could not see beyond 6 m. But last year, the accused got disqualified at this event after the authorities allegedly found out that he could see. The accused thought that Chirag had filed a complaint against him. However, we have not found an official letter,” an officer said.On Sunday, over a hundred people gathered at Chirag’s house in Ghaziabad’s Muradnagar where his body was brought after the autopsy.Just days before he was killed, Chirag had qualified for the Asian Para Games 2026, to be held in Japan in October, after winning gold and silver medals in the 400 m and 1,500 m races, respectively, in the Men’s T12 (Visually impaired athletes) category in the 8th Indian Open Para Athletics International Championship held at Sri Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru between May 26 and May 28.Sanyogita Tyagi, his aunt, said the whole village was preparing for a grand welcome. “He was supposed to come home on Saturday… We had been getting congratulatory calls from relatives. We all were very happy,” she said as she pointed to the medals and trophies in his room.Villagers affectionately called Chirag “Toofan” (a storm) for his speed in 100 m and 400 m races. ”We hoped to see Chirag win a medal for India in the Asian Para Games but now he is no more,” Ashish Tyagi, Chirag’s cousin, said.It was difficult for the 25-year-old to convince his father, being the only child, that he wished to pursue sports and not prepare for IIT, said another cousin, Himani Tyagi (40). “He asked his father to give him some time and showed him he can run at a lighting speed.He started winning district and state-level competitions and later went to nationals,” she recalled. “Chirag had started training under me in 2024. A lot of senior players helped junior players and Chirag also did the same with the accused… he had brought him to train under me in 2024,” said Gajendra Singh, husband of Paris Paralympics medallist Simran Sharma, who was training Chirag before his death.Story continues below this adWhile the police have said the accused is above 18, her mother claimed that he will turn 18 in November this year. “Since the last seven years, my son has given everything to sports and considered Chirag as a mentor. He had a weak eyesight since he was small, and was keeping very quiet since he was disqualified,” she said, adding that she does not believe that her son could commit such a crime.Nitin Sharma is an Assistant Editor with the sports team of The Indian Express. Based out of Chandigarh, Nitin works with the print sports desk while also breaking news stories for the online sports team. A Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award recipient for the year 2017 for his story ‘Harmans of Moga’, Nitin has also been a three-time recipient of the UNFPA-supported Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity for the years 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively. His latest Laadli Award, in November 2025, came for an article on Deepthi Jeevanji, who won India’s first gold medal at the World Athletics Para Championship and was taunted for her unusual features as a child. Nitin mainly covers Olympics sports disciplines with his main interests in shooting, boxing, wrestling, athletics and much more. The last 17 years with The Indian Express has seen him unearthing stories across India from as far as Andaman and Nicobar to the North East. Nitin also covers cricket apart from women’s cricket with a keen interest. Nitin has covered events like the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2011 ODI World Cup, 2016 T20 World Cup and the 2017 AIBA World Youth Boxing Championships. An alumnus of School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, from where he completed his Masters in Mass Communications degree, Nitin has been an avid quizzer too. A Guru Nanak Dev University Colour holder, Nitin’s interest in quizzing began in the town of Talwara Township, a small town near the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border. When not reporting, Nitin's interests lie in discovering new treks in the mountains or spending time near the river Beas at his hometown. ... Read MoreStay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on InstagramTags:ghaziabad