New Delhi (PTI): India batter Cheteshwar Pujara has been presented with the prestigious Arjuna award five years after he was recommended for the honour.

Pujara could not attend the awards ceremony back in 2017 due to his cricketing commitments. On Saturday, he finally got his hands on the trophy at a hand over ceremony here.

"Thankful to @IndiaSports @BCCI and @ianuragthakur to organise and handover the Arjuna Award belatedly, which I could not collect the year it was awarded to me due to my cricket commitments. Honoured and grateful," he tweeted after getting the award from Sports Minister Anurag Thakur.

Pujara, who plays domestic cricket for Saurashtra, is in the national capital for the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

He will be a part of India A squad that will tour Bangladesh ahead of the two-Test series in the neighbouring country next month.

A veteran of 96 Tests, Pujara had made a comeback into the Indian team following exemplary performances in county cricket.

 

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Mangaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah convened an emergency meeting with senior police officials in Mangaluru following the robbery at the Kotekar Cooperative Society on K.C. Road, Talapady. He directed authorities to expedite the investigation and apprehend the culprits at the earliest.

The meeting took place after a Medical Education Department program and was attended by Western Zone IG Amit, Mangaluru City Police Commissioner Anupam Agrawal, SP Yatish, and DySP.

Seeking a detailed briefing on the incident, Siddaramaiah questioned the officials about how the robbers managed to escape so easily, how many toll gates they crossed, and the lack of security at these checkpoints.

The officials however, conveyed that there was no security officer at the Society’s office at the time of the robbery and only five or six staff members were present at the time of the heist.

Police officials informed the Chief Minister that the suspects were recorded speaking in Kannada and Hindi. Siddaramaiah instructed the authorities to enforce strict checks at all toll gates, impose blockades across four districts borders, and ensure the arrest of the accused for strict legal action.