Hours After Detention, Delhi Police Releases Women Wrestlers Including Vinesh And Sakshi

While several women detainees were released later that evening, several others remain detained. Wrestlers and supporters were detained as they attempted to march to the new Parliament building.

Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Sangita Phogat, Sakshi Malik, and Bajrang Punia address the media during a protest against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

Source : PTI

After several hours of detention, the Delhi Police released some of the detained wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik, on Sunday. The women wrestlers informed the media that they had been released, while some of the other protesting wrestlers remain in jail, the news agency PTI reported. 

VIDEO | "They (police) have released me, Sakshi (Malik) and Sangeeta (Phogat). The remaining ones (wrestlers) are still under detention," says wrestler Vinesh Phogat. pic.twitter.com/pHQlLrZqDk

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 28, 2023

Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, and Bajrang Punia, along with their supporters, were detained on Sunday as they attempted to march to the new Parliament building as it was being inaugurated, with Delhi Police clearing their protest site at Jantar Mantar and saying they would not be allowed to continue their sit-in.

Opposition parties slammed the central government for "manhandling" the wrestlers, with former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi claiming that now that the "coronation" is over, the "arrogant king is crushing the voice of the people" on the streets.

IN PICS | Clash Erupts As Police Stop Wrestlers From Marching Towards New Parliament Building

The champion wrestlers had resumed their agitation against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on April 23, demanding his arrest for alleged sexual harassment of several women grapplers, and had called for a women's 'Mahapanchayat' for which they did not have permission.

Wrestlers and police officers shoved and pushed each other when Vinesh Phogat, her cousin sister Sangeeta Phogat, and Sakshi Malik tried to breach the barricades at Jantar Mantar, just three kilometres from where the prime minister inaugurated the new Parliament building.

After the wrestlers were loaded into buses and taken to various locations, police officers began clearing the protest site by removing cots, mattresses, coolers, fans, and the tarpaulin ceiling, as well as other wrestlers' belongings. 

Security was beefed up near the new Parliament building, the Jantar Mantar, and Delhi's borders with neighbouring states, and many farmer groups planning to join the wrestlers' protest were barred from entering the national capital.

Hundreds of farmers, led by BKU leader Rakesh Tikait, staged a sit-in at the closed Ghazipur border as they attempted to enter the national capital to participate in a protest called by agitating wrestlers.

The protesters eventually dispersed.