New Delhi: Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on Wednesday asked protesting wrestlers not to take any step that could undermine sports or hurt players and said they should wait for the probe to complete, even as political parties stepped up attack on the government over the issue.
Delhi Police said the cases filed by women wrestlers are still under consideration and status reports are being filed before the court. It would be against the procedure to say anything before the report is submitted to court, the police said after it deleted three tweets on the case.
A day after the wrestlers, who are demanding the arrest of former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over allegations of sexual harassment of grapplers, threatened to immerse their medals in river Ganga, Thakur urged them to be patient and have faith in the Supreme Court, the Sports Ministry and Delhi police.
He promised appropriate action once the probe is completed and said that the WFI will hold elections and a new body will be elected soon.
The government drew more flak over the issue from the Opposition with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee joining a protest in Kolkata against the alleged manhandling of wrestlers at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Sunday. The Congress too lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking why he did not appeal to the protesting wrestlers to not throw their medals in the Ganga.
The wrestlers, except Sakshi Malik, returned to their homes in Haryana and did not speak with the waiting media in Haridwar due to a “silence vow” on Wednesday.
PTI