Vinesh Phogat returns Khel Ratna and Arjuna Awards, leaves them at Kartavya Path
New Delhi(PTI): Multiple World Championship medallist Vinesh Phogat on Saturday returned her Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award, keeping the two awards lying in the middle of national capital's Kartavya Path after Delhi Police stopped her from reaching the prime minister's office.
On Tuesday, the Asian Games gold medallist grappler had decided to return her Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award to the government, saying such honours have become meaningless at a time when wrestlers are struggling to get justice.
Phogat had announced her decision in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On Saturday, she attempted to reach the prime minister's office to return her awards but the police prevented her from reaching the PMO.
As a mark of protest, she left the awards at the Kartavya Path and they were later picked up by Delhi Police.
Phogat, along with Olympic medallists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, had protested against the election of Sanjay Singh, a close aide of former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who had been accused of sexual harassment by the three well-known grapplers.
Sakshi had also announced her retirement from wrestling soon after Sanjay Singh's appointment as WFI Chief.
However, the Sports Ministry had later suspended the newly-elected panel for not following the provisions of its own constitution while taking decisions while asking the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to constitute an ad-hoc panel to manage the affairs of the sports body.
In her letter posted on X (formerly Twitter), Phogat had said that their lives are not like those "fancy government advertisements" that talk about women's empowerment and upliftment.
Acting on the sports ministry directive, the IOA on Wednesday constitued a three-member ad hoc committee to run the day-to-day affairs of the WFI.
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Advocate found dead in car on Nainital court premises
Nainital (PTI): A 55-year-old advocate allegedly died by suicide after shooting himself inside his car at the Nainital district court parking lot here on Monday, police said.
According to the police, Puran Singh Bhakuni, a resident of Mallital, was found in the rear seat of his vehicle with a gunshot wound to his temple.
Police recovered a licensed pistol from his hand and a suicide note from the car’s dashboard. The note stated that Bhakuni was unwell and suffering from depression.
"We received information through lawyers around noon. The deceased was lying in the back seat with a pistol in his hand and blood near his ear," Circle Officer Anjana Negi said.
Forensic teams and ballistic experts reached the spot to collect evidence, as no witness reported hearing the gunshot.
Government counsel Sushil Sharma stated that Bhakuni left home at 9 am and was found dead at 9.30 am.
Sharma raised concerns over the circumstances, noting that the body was in the rear seat, and demanded a thorough probe to rule out foul play. Bhakuni, who worked as a notary, had married six months ago, he said.
Police took the body into custody and sent it for a postmortem to confirm the cause of death.
The forensic laboratory will examine the suicide note and the ballistics of the weapon, the police said, adding that the investigation is ongoing.
