Jeremy Lalrinnunga wins India’s maiden gold medal at Youth Olympic Games
Buenos Aires, Oct 9 : Weightlifter Jeremy Lalrinnunga scripted history by winning India's maiden gold medal at the Youth Olympics, claiming the top honours in the men's 62kg category here.
The 15-year-old from Aizwal , who is also a world youth silver-medallist, lifted a total of 274kg (124kg +150kg) to finish on top in the Argentine capital on Monday night.
The silver medal went to Turkey's Toptas Caner, who lifted 263 kg (122kg+141kg), while Colombia's Villar Estiven Jose took the bronze with an effort of 260 kg (115kg+143kg).
The Mizo sensation, who will turn 16 on October 26, is being touted as the next big thing in Indian weightlifting.
Earlier this year, Lalrinnunga claimed a silver (youth) and a bronze (junior) in the Asian Championships, smashing two national records in the process.
His maiden gold also means that India are set to record their best ever performance at the Youth Olympics.
The country has already won four medals with Tushar Mane and Mehuli Ghosh bagging a silver each in 10m rifle shooting while Thangjam Tababi Devi won India's first medal in judo by finishing second in the 44kg category.
India won just two medals -- a silver and a bronze -- in the last Youth Olympics in 2014 in Nanjing in China. In the inaugural 2010 edition in Singapore, the nation fetched six silver and a couple of bronze medals.
While Lalrinnunga made the nation proud, weightlifter Sneha Soren could not finish on the podium in the women's 48kg category, signing off fifth.
In swimming, Srihari Nataraj, who competed in the 100m backstroke final despite being a reserve, could only manage a sixth position.
In other events, Archana Kamath and Manav Thakkar, India's representatives in table tennis, won their singles matches of the group stage.
Kamath beat Malaysia's Javen Choong 4-2 while Thakkar defeated Slovakia's Aleksandra Vovk 4-1. It was a big win for India in hockey as the team thrashed Austria 9-1.
Rising badminton sensation Lakshya Sen had it tough against Danylo Bosniuk in the first game before he regained his composure to beat the Ukrainian 23-21, 21-8.
The country is being represented by 47 athletes at the ongoing Games, its biggest ever contingent.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
