Vinesh Phogat deserves silver medal at least, says Ganguly
Kolkata, Aug 11: Former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly on Sunday extended his support to wrestler Vinesh Phogat, saying she deserves at least a silver medal for reaching the 50kg freestyle final at the Paris Olympics.
The 29-year-old Vinesh was disqualified ahead of the gold-medal bout for being 100gm overweight above the prescribed limit in the morning weigh-in, crushing her Olympic dream. The heartbreak prompted her to announce her retirement from wrestling.
"I don't know the exact rule, but I'm sure that when she reached the finals, she must have qualified properly," Ganguly told reporters when asked for his opinion on the matter on the sidelines of the Kolkata Food Festival here.
"So when you go to the finals, it's either a gold or silver medal. Whether she was disqualified wrongfully or not, I don't know, but she deserves the silver medal at least," he added.
Vinesh has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), demanding that she be awarded a joint silver medal with Cuban wrestler Yusneylis Guzman Lopez, who had lost to the Indian but was later promoted to the final following the Haryana wrestler's disqualification.
American Sarah Hildebrandt won the gold after defeating Lopez in the title clash.
The decision on Vinesh's appeal is expected to come on August 13.
Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar also had supported Vinesh, saying the disqualification of the Indian wrestler, "defied logic and sporting sense", and asked for rules to be revisited.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
'Key operator' of international gold smuggling racket brought to India from UAE: CBI
New Delhi, Sep 10: A key operator of an international gold smuggling racket with an Interpol Red Notice against him was brought from the UAE on Tuesday in an operation coordinated by the CBI with the NIA and Interpol, officials said.
Muniyad Ali Khan is the third fugitive in the case who was successfully brought back to India, they said.
Khan landed at the Jaipur airport from the UAE and was arrested by the NIA, the officials said.
In the case probed by the NIA, it was alleged that Khan had conspired in the illegal smuggling of gold bars from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, into India along with other accused, a CBI spokesperson said here.
Two co-accused in the case, Shokat Ali and Mohabbat Ali, were brought from Saudi Arabia on April 03, 2024 and August 17, 2023, respectively in an operation coordinated by the Global Operations Centre of the CBI with Interpol NCB-Riyadh and the NIA.
It is alleged that Khan along with the co-accused had provided gold bars to be smuggled from Riyadh into Jaipur.
Gold bars weighing 18.56 kilograms worth Rs 9 crore in the market were seized while being smuggled into the country at the Jaipur airport from Saudi Arabia in 2020 as part of the "criminal conspiracy to derail the country's economic security and monetary stability", the NIA said in a statement on August 17, 2023.
The bars had been concealed inside a battery of emergency lights for smuggling into India, the statement had said.
"He (Khan) is involved in international gold smuggling from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to Jaipur, India. The subject was charge-sheeted by the NIA on March 22, 2021, before the NIA Special Court, Jaipur. He was wanted for criminal conspiracy for offences under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act," the spokesperson said.
The CBI got a Red Notice issued against Khan from Interpol on September 13, 2021, at a request of the NIA which was circulated to all law enforcement agencies globally for tracking of the wanted criminal.
The Red Notice resulted in locating Khan in the UAE.
"The CBI as National Central Bureau for Interpol in India coordinates closely with all law enforcement agencies in India for cooperation over Interpol channels," he said.
