Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, among others, have been arrested for rioting and obstructing public servants on duty on Sunday, according to a scuffle with security personnel. The wrestlers were trying to march to the new Parliament building, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accompanied by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
The FIR has been registered against the organisers of the protest at the Parliament Street police station under the New Delhi district, including wrestlers Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia and Sangeeta Phogat, and others who were part of the scuffle that took place at Jantar Mantar today, a senior police officer said.
The Delhi Police cleared Jantar Mantar, the site of the protest, and said the protesting wrestlers will not be allowed to return there. According to the police, at least 700 people, including 109 protesters and the three wrestlers, were detained across the national capital. Women who were detained were released later in the evening.
The protest site is close to the new Parliament building, about 3 km away. The scene was chaotic and clashes between protesters and police as the wrestlers tried to breach the barricades. They were taken to various locations in buses immediately afterward, he said. The police removed the cots, mattresses, coolers, fans and the tarpaulin ceiling along with other belongings of the wrestlers who were conducting the month-long sit-in at Jantar Mantar.
Olympian Sakshi Malik said the movement is not over and that they will start their satyagraha at Jantar Mantar. In this country, there will be no dictatorship but there will be satyagraha held by women wrestlers, she said.
Vinesh Phogat, who was released by the police, also said the rest were still under detention. In all, all female wrestlers were released and all male wrestlers were released later.
The political parties, along with other opposition parties, slammed the central government for Manhandling the wrestlers protesting against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has been accused of sexual harassment by multiple women.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that the arrogant king, indicating PM Modi, is crushing the voice of the people on the streets, as the coronation a dig on the sceptre or the Sengol that was handed over to him is over. Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, called the entire episode Shameful and demanded action.
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M K Stalin, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Nationalist Congress PartyCongress Party MP Supriya Sule and left leaders condemned the treatment meted out to the protesting wrestlers.