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Olympian boxer Vijender Singh on Friday joined wrestlers protesting at Delhi's Jantar Mantar against Wrestling Federation India (WFI) and its chairman Brij Bhushan Saran Singh and demanded a probe by the Central Bureau Investigation into sexual harassment allegations leveled by the grapplers.
"I want justice to be served to those wrestlers, there must be a thorough probe into the allegations raised by wrestlers and there must be a CBI probe against those who're involved in this," Singh who is now with the Congress party told ANI. The champion boxer also sought for a live recording of any interaction between Union sports minister Anurag Thakur or any official with the wrestlers so that "we will get to know exactly what they have discussed and will understand who is wrong and who is right". Visuals from the Jantar Mantar protest site showed the 2008 Beijing Olympic bronze medallist sitting not on the stage with the wrestlers but on the ground below. Reportedly he was asked to step down from the stage by the wrestlers who did not want the protest to be politicised. On Thursday, Brinda Karat of the CPI (M) who reached the site to join in the protest was also requested to step down from the stage by the grapplers. Vijender later in a Congress party press briefing with former India discus player Krishna Poonia said that Prime Minister Modi should speak up in the issue and that action under appropriate sections of the Indian Penal Code should be initiated in the issue. Several ace wrestlers of the country including Sakshee Malikkh, Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Ravi Dahiya are participating in the sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, which began on Wednesday. Wrestlers have levelled charges of sexual harassment of women wrestlers by the WFI president and its coaches and of mismanagement in the functioning of the federation. They have also demanded a complete overhaul of the federation. The WFI president Singh has however refuted all allegations and claimed he will expose the "political conspiracy" in a press conference in Uttar Pradesh's Gonda today. On Thursday some wrestlers had a meeting with Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur which stretched till early this morning. However, according to sources the meeting remained inconclusive and the minister is likely to meet with grapplers again today at his residence. Meanwhile, Vinesh, Bajrang, Sakshee, Ravi and Deepak on Friday wrote to PT Usha, President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on the "sexual harassment" complaints against WFI chairman Brij Bhushan Saran Singh. In a letter to the IOA president, the star grapplers accused the WFI chairman of sexual exploitation and financial irregularities. (ANI)
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