Abu Dhabi: Mumbai Indians all-rounder Hardik Pandya has become the first player in the ongoing Indian Premier League to take a knee in support of the 'Black Lives Matter' movement.
Pandya's gesture came during the game against Rajasthan Royals here on Sunday.
The all-rounder smashed 60 run from just 21 balls. After reaching his half century in the 19th over, he went down on a knee with his right arm raised to show solidarity with the movement against racism.
West Indies all-rounder and Mumbai's stand-in skipper Kieron Pollard responded by raising his right fist. After the match Pandya even tweeted a picture of himself with the caption "#BlackLivesMatter".
Last week, West Indies Test skipper Jason Holder, who plays for the Sunrisers Hyderbad, had expressed his disappointment over none of the IPL teams taking a knee in solidarity with the movement, which, he felt, went unnoticed in the league.
"To be honest, I haven't had one conversation up here around it (BLM). Sometimes it seems it has gone unnoticed, which is a sad thing.
"I guess it's for us to re-highlight the importance of it, for people to understand what is happening in the world," Holder had said.
The "taking a knee" gesture started in the West Indies' Test series in England this summer in protest against racism after African-American George Floyd was killed by an on-duty white police officer in Minneapolis.
But the gesture was later discontinued for the subsequent tours of Pakistan and Australia.
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Bengaluru (PTI): Two men have been arrested for allegedly cheating a city resident of Rs 48 lakh on the pretext of providing high-quality ayurvedic medicines to cure his health issues, police said on Wednesday.
The accused were identified as Vijay Pradhan Chitodiya (42) and Manoj Singh Chitodiya (29), both natives of Miraj taluk in Sangli district, Maharashtra, police said.
With the arrests, police seized 17 types of ayurvedic medicines, a tempo traveller allegedly used in the offence, and Rs 19.50 lakh in cash. The total value of the seized drugs, cash and vehicle is estimated at Rs 23.50 lakh, they added.
The investigation revealed that the duo had been setting up roadside tents across Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and other parts of the country, cheating people by offering low-quality medicines for various health issues, a senior police officer said.
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The case came to light on November 22 after the victim, a resident of Whitefield, filed a complaint at the Jnanabharathi police station.
In his complaint, he said he had been suffering from sexual health issues since his marriage three years ago. Seeking treatment, he approached a roadside tent near KLE Law College, where medicines for urological ailments were being sold.
"One of the men at the tent told him that their ‘guruji’ provides high-quality ayurvedic medicines for such problems. ‘Guruji’ was called to the spot and introduced to him. He claimed he could supply premium medicine costing Rs 1 to Rs 2 lakh per gram, and collected Rs 48 lakh from him," the officer said.
However, the accused allegedly supplied poor-quality medicine, which caused adverse health effects, thereby cheating him, the officer added.
Based on the complaint, a case of cheating was registered at the Jnanabharathi police station.
During the investigation, Vijay, who posed as the ‘Guruji’, was traced to Mahabubnagar in Telangana and arrested on November 27, police said.
During questioning, he allegedly confessed to the crime and identified his accomplice. Manoj was subsequently arrested in Cyberabad, Telangana, on December 1, they added.
