India’s middle and long distance coach Nikolai Snesarev of Belarus was on Friday found dead in his hostel room at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Patiala, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) said.

The body of the 72-year-old Snesarev, who returned to India after a gap of two years to be at the helm till the end of September, has been sent to a government hospital for post-mortem.

“He had come to NIS (from his Bangalore base) for the Indian Grand Prix 3 held today (Friday). But when he did not turn up for the meet, the coaches checked for him in the evening and his room was found locked from inside,” AFI president Adille Sumariwalla said.

“When the door was broken, he was found lying on his bed. The Sports Authority of India (SAI) doctor at the NIS declared him dead and the executive director (teams) of the SAI has referred the body to a hospital for post-mortem.

“We don’t know the cause of death.”

Snesarev was at the track on Friday morning with his wards but did not turn up for the meet, which started at 2pm.

Earlier, Olympic-bound javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra smashed his own national record with a throw of 88.07m.