Wrestling: Bajrang storms into semifinals, Seema Bisla exits 50kg competition after losing opener
Chiba (Japan): True to his style, Bajrang Punia put his tactical acumen and strength to good use in the second period to pin Iran's Morteza Cheka Ghiasi for a semifinal berth in the men's free-style 65kg event which took him closer to an Olympic medal on debut, here on Friday.
Bajrang trailed the Iranian for a major part of the bout after being severely crippled by Ghiasi's defensive tactics, especially the body-locks.
Twice Bajrang was put on activity clock and also left to defend his right leg when Ghiasi got hold of it.
As the second period moved towards the final minute, Ghiasi looked like making a dangerous move when he got hold of Bajrang's right leg and almost pulled off a take down.
But Bajrang not only wriggled out of that clutch, he locked the neck of Ghiasi and moved into a position from where he turned his rival, pushed him on the mat and held him with his immense strength to emerge victorious by fall.
He will now fight it out with Azerbaijan's Haji Aliev for a place in the gold medal bout. Aliev is three-time world champion and bronze-winner from the Rio Games.
Before this bout, a timely take-down move helped him beat Kyrgyzstan's Ernazar Akmataliev in his opening bout.
Just before the end of the first period put the Indian ahead 3-1 but Akmataliev ran Bajrang close in the second period, getting two push-out points to level the scores.
Since Bajrang had the high scoring move, a two-pointer take down, he was declared winner on criteria.
It was not the most clean and fluent victories that he is known for, but was just enough for Bajrang, who came into the Games after suffering a minor knee injury during a local Russian tournament.
Debutant Indian wrestler Seema Bisla could not find a way to get out of the defensive trap of Tunisia's Sarra Hamdi and lost her 50kg opening round 1-3.
The 27-year-old could not make her moves as Hamdi applied the body lock to great effect, never allowing Seema to initiate a strong attack.
There hardly any moves in the bout with Hamdi getting two of her three points on push out and one on Seema's passivity.
Seema got on board when she too pushed her rival out after being put on activity clock for a second time.
The Tunisian later lost her next bout, which drew curtains on Seema's campaign.
The Rohtak grappler had not even won a national event till 2017 but went on to secure her berth for the Games by winning the World Olympic Qualifier, held in Sofia in May.
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Fact Check: Muslim man urinates on Kumbh Mela poster in Raebareli? No, the claim is false
Claim: The video shows people thrashing a Muslim man for urinating on a Kumbh Mela poster in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh.
Fact: The claim is false. Raebareli's Bachhrawan Police Station SHO OP Tiwari confirmed to NewsMeter that the accused’s name is Vinod and he belongs to the Hindu community.
Hyderabad: In the context of the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela in Uttar Pradesh, a video has surfaced showing a group of people assaulting a man while using abusive language against him. Those sharing the video claim the man being assaulted is a Muslim man who was allegedly caught by the locals for urinating on photos of Maha Kumbh and Hindu deities displayed on a wall.
An X user, Baba Banaras, who has been caught several times indulging in misinformation, shared the video and wrote, “Rae Bareilly, UP: Abdul Urinates on Photos of Mahakumbh and Hindu Deities on Wall, Caught by Locals. (sic)” (Archive)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. While the video is from Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh, our investigation revealed that the man accused of urinating belongs to the Hindu community.
We conducted a keyword search and found reports by Amar Ujala and India Daily published on January 11. Both reports mentioned the viral video which captured the assault.
According to these reports, the incident allegedly occurred on the evening of January 10, 2025, at the main intersection of Bachhrawan town in Raebareli. Locals caught the accused and assaulted him, while someone at the scene recorded the incident and shared the video on social media.
Neither report named the accused nor specified his community. However, mentioned that inspector OP Tiwari stated an investigation into the viral video is ongoing.
We also found another X user sharing the video with the same communal claim. However, the X handle of Raebareli police replying to the post clarified that the man being assaulted in the video is Vinod, a hawker from Kannauj district, who, in an intoxicated state, urinated near the wall, unaware of the presence of the Kumbh poster. The reply also clarified that the claim that Vinod belongs to a different community is false and baseless.
— Raebareli Police (@raebarelipolice) January 13, 2025
NewsMeter reached out to Bachhrawan SHO OP Tiwari, who refuted the claim that the accused belongs to the Muslim community. He clarified, “The accused’s name is Vinod, also known as Dinesh, son of Bharat, and he belongs to the Hindu community.”
Tiwari also shared a press release about the incident issued by the Bachhrawan Police Station. The statement confirmed that the accused, Vinod alias Dinesh, was arrested in accordance with the law and presented before the court.
Therefore, we conclude that the claim of a Muslim man urinating on a Kumbh Mela poster in Raebareli, UP, is false.
(This story was originally published by newsmeter.in, and republished by english.varthabharati.in as part of the Shakti Collective)
