Delhi Police sending request to govt for withdrawl of FIR against wrestlers
Jun 15, 2023
New Delhi [India], June 15 : Delhi Police on Thursday said it will request the government to withdraw the FIR registered against the protesting wrestlers on May 28.
The FIR was filed in light of a police crackdown on May 28 when the protesting grapplers, who have been demanding the arrest and sacking of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over sexual harassment allegations, were marching to the new Parliament building.
The wrestlers had taken out the march to the new Parliament building while Section 144 was in force in the area. They were detained by Delhi Police personnel on the way and an FIR was filed under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 147, 149, 186, 188, 332, 353, Section 3 of the PDPP Act. The protest site, near Jantar Mantar, was also cleared by Delhi Police.
The wrestlers had halted their protest till June 15 after a meeting with Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur during which he had assured the filing of the chargesheet by June 15.
Earlier, on Thursday, Delhi Police filed a chargesheet in connection with the FIR against Brij Bhushan on the complaint of sexual harassment by the protesting wrestlers. The chargesheet has been filed under IPC sections 354, 354D, 345A & 506 (1), Special Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava said.
Amid the ongoing protest against the federation chief, the newly-appointed returning officer for WFI elections Mahesh Mittal Kumar had earlier issued a statement saying that the elections to the wrestling body will be held on July 6.
Olympians Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat, along with other wrestlers, had been sitting on a protest in the national capital since the beginning of this year seeking the arrest and removal of the WFI chief over sexual harassment allegations.
