Arrest Brij Bhushan Singh by June 9, farmer leaders give another ultimatum to Centre

Farmer leaders on Friday gave an ultimatum to the Modi government to arrest Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh by June 9 or else khap leaders would hold panchayats across the nation to support India’s top athletes who have accused him of sexual harassment, PTI reported.

Several wrestlers, including Olympic medallists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia and two-time world champion medallist Vinesh Phogat, have been protesting for more than a month demanding the arrest of Singh, who is also a Bharatiya Janata Party MP.

In April, the Delhi Police filed two first information reports against the 66-year-old after the intervention of the Supreme Court.

Later, members of several farmer unions and khap panchayats had asked the government to arrest Singh by May 21.

At a khap mahapanchayat in Haryana’s Kurukshetra on Friday, Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait warned that the wrestlers would return to Jantar Mantar in Delhi if Singh is not arrested by June 9. The police have cleared the site in central New Delhi where the wrestlers had been camped out since April 23 to seek action against Singh.

Friday’s mahapanchayat was held three days after Malik, Punia and Phogat had threatened to immerse their medals in the Ganga river as part of their demand for the arrest...

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