Tokyo, (PTI): The Indian mixed doubles duo of Pramod Bhagat and Palak Kohli suffered a narrow defeat at the hands of Japan's Daisuke Fujihara and Akiko Sugino in their bronze-medal play-off match of the Paralympics here on Sunday.

The Indian duo lost 21-23 19-21 to their Japanese opponents in the SL3-SU5 class final that lasted 37 minutes to end their campaign at fourth place.

They had earlier lost the semifinals 3-21 15-21 to te Indonesian combination of Hary Susanto and Leani Ratri Oktila.

The two pairs were neck-and-neck throughout the match. The Indians were 10-8 up in the first game but the Japanese came back strongly to level at 10-10.

After that, the score-line read 14-14, 18-18 and then 20-20. The Indians were up 21-20 but then eventually lost 21-23.

In the second game also, the two pairs were on equal footing and 10-10 at the midway point before the Japanese surged ahead to win 21-19 and pocket the bronze.

The 33-year-old Bhagat on Saturday claimed India's first badminton gold at the Paralympics in men's singles SL3 class.

It was 19-year-old Kohli's debut Paralympics.

In SL3 class, shuttlers with minor lower limb impairment play standing while players with upper limb impairment play standing in SL5.



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Bengaluru: Vidyaranyapura police have arrested four persons, including a man posing as a Police Sub-Inspector (PSI), for allegedly breaking into a house, threatening the occupants, and extorting money while wearing police uniforms.

The arrested accused have been identified as Mallikarjuna, Pramod, Vinay, and Hrithik.

Police said the accused had hatched a plan to pose as police personnel, conduct fake raids, and extort money from residents by intimidation.

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According to the police, Mallikarjuna had failed the PSI examination twice and later falsely projected himself as a PSI. He allegedly conducted photo shoots in his hometown, Siraguppa, wearing a police uniform, baton, cap, and shoes, claiming to be serving as a PSI in Bengaluru.

On December 7, the four accused allegedly went to the house of Naveen in the Vidyaranyapura limits, threatened him with a stick and an iron rod, and claimed they had information that he was selling ganja. Under the pretext of searching, they allegedly extorted ₹87,000 through bank transfer, ₹53,000 in cash kept in the house, and ₹2,000 from his wallet.

Following Naveen’s complaint, Vidyaranyapura police registered a case and launched an operation, leading to the arrest of all four accused. Police have seized ₹45,000 in cash and the car used to commit the crime.
Further investigation is underway.