“Very Wrong, Condemnable”: Arvind Kejriwal Slams Police Action On Wrestlers

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal condemned the police detention of wrestlers protesting at Jantar Mantar here on Sunday and called their act “very wrong.”

Delhi Police on Sunday detained Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, and Bajrang Punia after they breached the security cordon moving towards the new Parliament building for a women’s ‘Mahapanchayat.’ Kejriwal retweeted a video shared by Malik that showed wrestlers being dragged by police to a detention van after a lengthy scuffle.

“Such treatment to the sportsperson who brought laurels to the country is very wrong and condemnable,” he wrote.

Jantar Mantar turned into a scene of chaos when Vinesh Phogat and her cousin Sangeeta Phogat tried to breach the barricades and as police tried to contain the breach with a lot of shoving and pushing.

Immediately after the wrestlers were pushed into buses and taken to an unknown location, police began clearing the protest site by removing cots, mattresses, cooler fans, the tarpaulin ceiling, and other belongings of the wrestlers.

The agitating wrestlers, who include Olympic medallists Punia and Malik and Asian Games gold winner Phogat, have been demanding the arrest of outgoing Wrestling Federation of India President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh accusing him of sexually harassing several women grapplers.

The Delhi Police has filed two FIRs against Singh, one of which relates to allegations by the minor wrestler and has been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, while the other is related to outraging modesty of adult women wrestlers.

Singh has rejected the allegations against him and offered to undergo narco analysis and polygraph tests provided the protesting wrestlers also undergo the tests.