Vishal Kumar Verma, a national-level wrestler, died in a shocking incident at the Jaipal Singh Stadium in Ranchi on Tuesday. The 25-year-old was electrocuted due to a short circuit at the flooded and falling down stadium building which houses the office of the Jharkhand State Wrestling Association (JSWA).

Vishal was spotted lying unconscious by locals and was declared dead by doctors after he was brought to the Sardar Hospital. Jharkhand Wrestling Association president Bhola Singh has condemned the incident and announced an interim relief of Rs 1 lakh to Vishal’s family. The association will also give ten thousand rupees (Rs 10,000) every month to the family.

“It is extremely unfortunate. I don’t know why he went to the office which is sunk in deep waters. The situation of the stadium is pathetic and the building is in ruins. We have demanded Rs 10 lakh compensation from the government for the kind of Kumar,” said Singh.

The indoor stadium, built in 1978, has been flooded with rainwater since the beginning of monsoon and its condition has worsened due to heavy rains in the past couple of weeks. Bholanath Singh, the general secretary and coach of the Jharkhand State Wrestling Association, said: “Vishal had stood fourth in the last senior national wrestling championship.”

“Preliminary investigation has revealed that death was due to electrocution. Vishal was using a water pump to clear out the water when the incident took place. Faulty wiring seems to be the main cause of this incident,” officer in-charge of Kotwali police station, Shyamanand Mandal, said.

Ganesh Jha, the general manager of Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam (JBVNL), said that there was no fault in the power connection provided by his department. “An executive engineer visited the site and reported that there is no fault in the power connection provided by JBVNL. However, there could be a loose connection in the building’s internal electrical wiring,” Ganesh Jha told.

The Jharkhand wrestling association has asked the state government to provide a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to Verma’s family, having themselves provided an exgratia of Rs 10,000 to the family, till one of the four sisters of Verma gets a job.

Singh noted that Verma had represented the state at various championships since 2005, having come 4th in senior nationals this year. Vishal was the lone bread earner in his family of six members with three unmarried sisters.