Mirabai carries Indian weightlifting as juniors rise but doping woes persist in 2025
New Delhi (PTI): Indian weightlifting once again revolved around the enduring brilliance of Mirabai Chanu, whose World Championships silver was the single biggest achievement for the sport in a year marked by doping concerns and senior-level stagnation.
Returning after an injury-forced hiatus of over a year, the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist claimed Commonwealth Championships gold on home soil.
She then added a World Championships silver in the 48kg category, reaffirming her status as the sport's flag-bearer even as the elusive 90kg snatch lift remained out of reach for her.
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Mirabai Magic
Chanu, who had been side-lined since the Paris Games in 2024, marked a successful return to competition by claiming the gold at the Commonwealth Championships in Ahmedabad in August, albeit against a weak field.
She sustained the momentum by adding a third World Championships medal to her glittering trophy cabinet.
The silver at Forde, Norway was achieved with a total lift of 199kg, 84kg in the snatch and 115kg in the clean and jerk section.
However, not only did the coveted 90kg snatch continue to elude her, the Manipuri lifter failed to even improve her personal best performance.
"In the context of Mirabai, this year has been good. She came to competition after a long time, and won a silver medal at the World Championships which was uplifting after the failure of Paris Olympics," chief coach Vijay Sharma told PTI.
In what can be construed as a fresh challenge for her, the International Weightlifting Federation changed the Olympic weight categories for the second time in a year.
In the latest reshuffle, Chanu's current 48kg category was dropped from the Olympic programme.
As a result, she will eventually have to move up to the 53kg class, the lowest women's category at the Los Angeles Games.
For now, she will continue competing in the 48kg division, with an eye on the Asian Games scheduled for next year, an event where a medal has remained out of her grasp.
Beyond Chanu, there were no other standout performances from the senior lifters during the season.
While Indians managed medals at the Commonwealth Championships against an inferior field, none of the performances came close to world-class standards.
At the Asian Championships too, Nirupama Devi finished fourth in the women's 64kg while Dilbag Singh was ninth in the men's 96kg category competition, reflecting that the Commonwealth level remains the only arena where India can consistently assert dominance.
Dope cheats galore
The persistent menace of doping once again cast a long shadow over Indian weightlifting.
India was flagged by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as the worst doping offender for the third consecutive year, based on 2024 data, with weightlifting accounting for the second-highest number of violations.
The gravity of the situation was evident at the Khelo India University Games earlier this month, where several lifters reportedly went missing in action after entering their names.
The competition witnessed a spate of DNSs (Did Not Start) entries following the arrival of anti-doping officials.
Juniors make a mark
Amid the gloom, the rise of junior and youth lifters offered genuine hope as Indian weightlifting headed into a crucial year with the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games scheduled next season.
"The second line is developing well. The juniors did very well at the Commonwealth Championships.
"There were youth world records and their totals were very good, equal to what the senior national champions are lifting," Sharma said.
Koyel Bar set two youth world records at the Commonwealth Championships on home soil in August, while Priteesmita Bhoi broke the youth world record in clean and jerk on her way to winning gold in the girls' 44kg category at the Youth Asian Games later in the year.
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Kannur dental student death: Case registered against loan app operators, parents allege murder
Kannur (PTI): A case has been registered against unidentified loan app operators in connection with the death of a Kannur Dental College student in Anjarakandy, officials said on Monday.
However, the victim’s parents alleged that their son was murdered and held the college faculty responsible for his death.
The Kannur Cyber Police registered the case on Sunday night based on a complaint by an assistant professor of the college.
According to police, Nithin Raj R L, a first-year BDS student, had taken a loan through an online loan app.
After he defaulted on repayment, the app operators allegedly began contacting the assistant professor.
The FIR stated that the accused contacted the woman faculty member via MMS and WhatsApp, threatening her over repayment and attempting to siphon off money illegally.
Sources said that in cases of default, such loan app operators often send messages to all available contacts of the borrower.
Raj (22), a native of Uzhamalackal, Puthukulangara in Thiruvananthapuram district, was found critically injured near the medical college block after falling from a building on April 10 and later succumbed to his injuries.
The family alleged that Raj was subjected to emotional harassment on caste and complexion grounds by two faculty members, following which a case was registered against Dental Anatomy Department Head M K Ram and Associate Professor K T Sangeetha Nambiar for abetment of suicide and under provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Even though notices were issued to both accused to appear for interrogation, they are yet to respond to the police, officials said.
Police officials said the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case is also examining whether Raj’s death was linked to threats from the loan app operators.
The cyber case has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Sections 351(2) (criminal intimidation) and 308(3) (extortion), along with Section 66D of the Information Technology Act (cheating by personation using computer resources).
Police said Raj’s mobile phone will be examined to gather details about the loan app, and a detailed statement will be recorded from the assistant professor who received the threatening messages and calls.
Meanwhile, the SIT has recovered chat details from Raj’s phone, which indicate that he had sought more time to repay the loan.
According to police, Raj had taken a loan of Rs 14,000, and the app operators had demanded immediate repayment of Rs 8,000.
As his family was facing financial difficulties, he had requested a few weeks’ time to settle the dues.
The SIT, led by the Station House Officer of Chakkarakkallu police station, visited Raj’s house on Monday and recorded statements of his parents and sister.
The four-member team also collected digital evidence from them.
The family also met the State Police Chief Ravada Chandrasekhar and filed a petition seeking a detailed probe into the incident.
Raj’s father Rajan said his son had taken the loan for his mother’s treatment.
“We were repaying it. But recently, the repayment defaulted. If the teacher was aggrieved by the loan app’s calls and my son had done anything wrong, they should have informed us. You can check my phone, there is no call from the college,” he said.
Rajan said he had little hope of getting justice.
“They all killed my son. What justice can I expect? I worked hard for his education. We lost everything,” he said.
He also alleged that even three days after Raj’s death, there had been no communication from the college authorities.
“He was a student of that college. Not even a word from the authorities. Students there, fearing for their future, are not speaking out. At least one student should speak out for us,” he said.
Meanwhile, protests erupted at Kannur Dental College on Monday, with final-year BDS students also joining the agitation.
The college has granted leave to students of other batches following the incident.
Students alleged that the accused faculty member, M K Ram, misbehaved with students by body-shaming and physical assault.
“We were living under severe pressure. Ram was involved in body-shaming. Verbal abuse was frequent. Apart from it, he used to hit students on the head. There were also complaints against him and disciplinary action taken earlier,” a student told reporters.
Political organisations, including KSU of the Congress, SFI and DYFI of the CPI(M), MSF of the IUML and ABVP of the BJP, carried out protest marches.
KSU and SFI activists who entered the college compound were later detained and removed by police.
Kerala SC/ST Commission Chairperson Shekaran Miniyodan visited Raj’s house and interacted with his family.
He said the Commission has registered a case and sought a report from the police.
“We will collect information along with the SIT about the incident. Apart from the preliminary investigation report, we will also examine the postmortem report,” he said.
Similarly, the Kerala Youth Commission has also registered a case and recorded statements of students of the college.
Commission Chairman M Shajar said students have raised serious allegations against M K Ram and that a detailed probe would be conducted with police support.
Earlier, the Kerala State Human Rights Commission had also registered a case and sought a report from the police.
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