Brief by Shorts91 Newsdesk / 04:15am on 20 Jan 2026,Tuesday Sports
National pole vault record holder Dev Meena and fellow athlete Kuldeep Yadav were forcibly deboarded from a train at Panvel station by a Travelling Ticket Examiner who prohibited them from carrying their poles which is an essential sport equipment. The athletes were stranded for nearly five hours while explaining their situation to authorities after returning from the All India Inter-University Championships. A viral video shows Meena questioning the treatment, wondering about harassment faced by junior athletes if international competitors face such issues. The 19-year-old Meena holds India's national record at 5.35m, set in April 2025, though significantly trailing the Asian record (6m) and world record (6.27m by Armand Duplantis). The incident sparked nationwide controversy.
