NEW DELHI – Delhi Police have detained all the protesting wrestlers, including Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik along with their supporters and further removed the tents installed at the protest site at Jantar Mantar on Sunday.
The officials also told wrestlers to not do anything anti-national.
Earlier, protesting wrestlers along with their supporters jumped over the police barricades and tried to march towards the newly constructed Parliament building. However, they were stopped by the police, deployed in large numbers.
The wrestlers, including Sakshi Malik, also clashed with the police officials when they were stopped by police while marching towards Parliament.
Since April 23, prominent Indian wrestlers such as Punia, Malik, and Vinesh Phogat have been staging a protest at the Jantar Mantar against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal took to Twitter and condemned the police action.
“This is Sakshi Malik. Olympics medalist, Padma Shri and Khel Ratna awardee. This is how she was dragged on the streets of Delhi today,” Maliwal tweeted while sharing the picture of Sakshi Malik being forcefully taken into police custody.
“This is @BajrangPunia. He is also an Olympics medalist and PadmaShri, Khel Ratna awardee. He has put his entire career on risk to fight for justice for women wrestlers. He too has been dragged and detained by Delhi Police!,” she wrote in another tweet while sharing the picture of Punia being detained.
“They are the champions of the country, not terrorists! Embarrassing,” she said in a series of tweets. -IANS