India’s Top Pole-Vaulter Dev Meena Thrown Off Train By TTE, Video Sparks Controversy

Dev Meena, who is the national record holder in men's pole vault, faced harassment by a Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) and was told to deboard the train at Panvel. This incident led to a controversy on social media. A video had gone viral on social media, where Meena is seen talking about the incident and how the railway officials treated them.

What exactly happened?

Meena was travelling with his fellow teammate Kuldeep Yadav after participating in the All India Inter-University Championships. As per the athletes, the TTE questioned them about carrying their pole vault and said that such items weren't allowed. Even though they explained continuously that the poles were important equipment, the official didn't listen to them.

The athletes also revealed that they were forced to leave the train at Panvel and were stranded for five hours. They also tried to reassure railway authorities that pole vault wasn't optional luggage but important for their sport. But their requests were ignored.

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Meena was seen showing his frustration and disappointment in the video. He also raised concerns as to how athletes will train and play at a high level if they are treated this way when they are travelling.

He also revealed that if an international athlete like him can be treated like this, then the situation might be worse for the upcoming athletes.

This incident has led to a huge uproar on social media, with lots of people asking for clearer guidelines and that railway officials should be more sensitive when talking to sportspersons.

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India’s top pole vaulter de-boarded and detained: the 5-metre jump and the 5-hour wait

Pole vault is one of the toughest events in athletics — and travelling with poles makes it even harder.

This time, the challenge came from Indian Railways officials.

Watch how India’s top… pic.twitter.com/l4Hrmf83jS

— nnis Sports (@nnis_sports) January 19, 2026

Who is Dev Kumar Meena?

Dev Kumar Meena is an Indian pole vaulter. Hailing from Madhya Pradesh, Dev broke his national record last year in April at the National Federation Senior Athletics Championships. He also improved his earlier record of 5.32m at the Uttarakhand National Games.