In a curious turn of events, Delhi Police on Wednesday retracted its denial of giving clean chit to embattled Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in sexual harassment cases filed by women wrestlers.
The new development came even as farmer leaders called a 'maha panchayat' in Uttar Pradesh's Soram village on Thursday to discuss the future course of wrestlers' protest against Singh.
Singh said, "if a single allegation against me is proven, I will hang myself. If you (wrestlers) have any evidence, present it to the court, and I am ready to accept any punishment."
Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said, "Wrestlers should wait for Delhi Police to conclude their investigation and not take any steps that may cause harm to the sport or aspiring wrestlers. We all are in favour of the sport and sportspersons."
Initially, police “sources” had told media, including news agencies like PTI and ANI, that investigators have not found any “sufficient” evidence to arrest Singh and they are likely to file either a chargesheet or a final report in court in 15 days. They had said that there was no “supportive evidence to prove the allegations of the wrestlers.
However, Delhi Police then officially denied the reports on Twitter saying it was “wrong”.
Hours later, this tweet was deleted. The now-deleted tweet read, “Several media channels are running a story that the Delhi Police hasn't found sufficient evidence in the cases registered against the Ex-President of WFI and a final report in the matter is due to be submitted before the concerned court. It is to clarify that this news is 'wrong' and the investigation into this sensitive case is under progress with all sensitivity.”
Delhi Police spokesperson Suman Nalwa later said that the investigation was still on and police cannot comment on the evidence it collected or a time frame for completing the investigation. She said police will give an update once the investigation is over
The flip-flop came on the day after international wrestlers, including Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia were persuaded by farmer leader Naresh Tikait not to immerse their medals in Ganga river in protest against Singh not being arrested.
The decision to hold 'Maha Panchayat' was announced by Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Naresh Tikait.
Tikait said several representatives of different khaps and their heads hailing from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab Rajasthan and Delhi will be participating in the mahapanchayat to decide the next course of action in the wrestlers’ protest.
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal tweeted, "Brij Bhushan Singh: Does application of POCSO and immediate arrest after 164 statements apply to all accused other than Brij Bhushan because he: 1) Belongs to BJP 2) iconic women wrestlers don't matter; votes matter! 3) Government doesn't care...Is this my new India?"