Ace Indian hockey forward Deepak Thakur was seriously injured after being hit by Punjab Police defender Kamalpreet Singh during a Maharaja Ranjit Singh hockey tournament Super League match in Delhi on Saturday.
Thakur, who plays for Indian Oil, was rushed to the Apollo Hospital, having suffered multiple injuries on the face and hand following the attack.
Kamalpreet, also an India international, swung the hockey stick on Thakur's nose after he objected to his harsh tackle on teammate Prabhjot Singh and then repeatedly hit him with the stick.
The match was called off and Punjab Police disqualified from the tournament.
Hospital sources said Thakur had a broken nose and sustained injuries on the right side of the face and hand.
Several Punjab Police players, including Thakur's India teammate Gagan Ajit Singh and coach Pargat Singh, visited the hospital later.
This is not the first time Punjab Police is involved in an unruly incident during a match. In the 1995 final of the Aga Khan Cup at the Bombay Gymkhana in Mumbai, against Indian Airlines, their burly defender Jagdev Singh attacked former India captain Shakeel Ahmed, who had to be hospitalized with serious injuries.
The final was left unfinished as players of both teams got into a scuffle and spectators vented their anger on the Punjab Police players after invading the pitch. Incidentally, Pargat Singh was also a memeber of that Punjab Police team.
It is different matter that none of the Punjab Police were penalized. Instead, Ahmed lost his place in the Indian squad after the incident.
