Punjab Wrestling Association tells ad-hoc panel not to exempt Bajrang Punia from Asian Games trials
New Delhi (PTI): Pressure continued to mount on IOA's ad-hoc panel for holding fair Asian Games trials with Punjab Wrestling Association (PWA) on Friday categorically telling the committee that it would field Jaskaran Singh in the 65kg competition and no wrestler should be picked in that weight class without a contest.
PWA Secretary General R S Kundu wrote a letter to panel head Bhupender Singh Bajwa, conveying that the committee must not hand exemption to any wrestler (read Bajang Punia) in the trials.
"It is injustice to Mr Jaskaran Singh if selection trial will not be conducted when it is a right of every eligible wrestler in each weight category to participate in selection trials for Asian Games 2023," the letter read.
"Punjab Wrestling Association strongly recommend the name of Mr Jaskaran Singh (for) freestyle wrestling and request the ad-hoc committee to conduct selection trials for Asian Games in 65kg weight category."
Bajrang Punia has made the 65kg weight class his own on the back of stupendous show in international tournaments. He won a bronze at the Tokyo Olympics and is a multiple medal winner at the World Championships.
Jaskaran had finished fourth at the U23 Asian Championship last month and is a silver medallist from the 2021 Cadet World Championship.
On Friday, 24 women wrestlers from Chhotu Ram Akhada had also requested the panel to give a fair chance to all wrestlers for a shot at the Asian Games-bound Indian squad.
The wrestlers had marked their mails to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and IOA President PT Usha.
The ad-hoc panel is still undecided on the criteria and format for the trials that are scheduled to be held on July 22-23 at Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi.
According to panel member Gian Singh, a meeting will be held on Saturday to decide on the final criteria and so far they have deliberated upon three options.
As per discussion among committee members, the panel can send the names of the six protesting wrestlers -- Bajrang, Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, Jitender Kinha, Satyawart Kadian and Sangeeta Phogat -- as reserves.
However, it will be extremely difficult to replace the names unless there is an injury to a selected wrestler.
The second option, the panel has discussed is that after holding initial trials, it will pick country's best four wrestlers in each category and ask them to fight against the six protesting wrestlers and the final winner goes to Hangzhou where the Games will begin on September 13.
The third option is to just go ahead with the trails on July 22-23 and whoever competes and wins, will book his place in the Indian team.
"Honestly speaking, Sangeeta and Jitender Kinha don't stand much chance in the trials while Sakshi and Satyawart have 50-50 chance, so the issue is basically about two wrestlers, Vinesh and Bajrang," said a panel member.
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Several Gurugram schools receive hoax bomb threats
Gurugram (PTI): Several Gurugram schools received another hoax bomb threat emails on Wednesday morning, prompting police to launch searches on the premises.
Police said the email was sent by the 'Khalistan National Army', with threats issued to Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini to declare April 29 as the "40th Khalistan Declaration Day". It also threatened to bomb the Red Fort in Delhi.
Police said it was a hoax as no suspicious items were found after an intensive search.
Several schools, including Shri Ram, Amity, and the HDFC school, received threatening emails at 8.33 am, when classes had already begun, police said.
The school administrations became aware of the threats around 9 am and immediately informed the police, a senior police officer said.
The schools immediately implemented emergency protocols, with many declaring a holiday and asking parents to take their children home safely, the officer said.
A large number of anxious parents gathered outside the schools, as police and bomb squad teams reached the spots and started checks.
"Around 10 schools have approached the police from morning until now over bomb threats. Police teams are alert, and searches are underway on all the premises", the officer said.
As soon as the information about this email was received, police in Gurugram and Delhi swung into action and started investigation.
Schools immediately implemented emergency protocols upon receiving the mail. Many schools declared a holiday and sent messages to parents, asking them to take their children home. Large crowds of parents gathered outside the schools.
The schools were sanitised by sending a bomb disposal squad as well as a dog squad.
A senior police officer said that police teams thoroughly searched the school premises, classrooms, buildings, and surrounding areas. No suspicious objects or explosive materials were found during the investigation.
"Police teams are seriously investigating the entire matter. Cyber experts are being consulted to determine the authenticity of the email, its source, and the identity of the sender", added the officer.
This is the third time since January that schools have received fake bomb threats.
In March, at least a dozen schools in the city received bomb threat emails, which later turned out to be hoaxes.
Similarly, on January 28, as many as 13 schools received hoax bomb threats via email, forcing authorities to evacuate campuses and suspend classes.
Last month, police arrested a Bangladeshi national whose email ID was allegedly used to make a bomb threat for some payment.
