'Bajrang Punia Asked Minor Girl To Level Sexual Assault Charges Against Me': WFI Chief Brij Bhushan

WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has alleged that wrestler Bajrang Punia had arranged for a girl who levelled sexual harassment allegations against him.

WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on Monday said he didn't know the minor girl who had levelled sexual harassment allegations against him. He also said that the minor girl didn't even testify before the oversight committee formed to investigate the matter. "I had submitted an audio clip to the committee, in which Bajrang Punia was asking a person to arrange a girl. And now after three months they arranged it and came up with a fresh allegation," Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh said.

Singh, facing allegations of sexual harassment from some of India's best wrestlers, had earlier said that he would resign as President of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) if his party asked him to. 

"If my party asks me to resign, I will resign...Forces involved in 'tukde tukde gang', Shaheen Bagh protest, and 'kisaan andolan' seem to be involved in it (wrestlers' protest), I am not their target. The party (BJP ) is their target. These athletes have been paid," he said. "The protest is expanding, as it did in the Shaheen Bagh agitation. They want to divide Uttar Pradesh and Haryana," Singh added.

Singh on Sunday claimed that Congress leader Deepender Hooda and Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist wrestler Bajrang Punia had plotted a conspiracy against him

Protests against the WFI chairman erupted in January, but the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the government quickly defused the situation by appointing an investigation panel. Top Indian wrestlers, including Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, and Vinesh Phogat, among others, repeated their call for action against the BJP leader last week.

On Monday, Singh stated that owing to protests by the country's best wrestlers, all activity in the sport had came to a halt in the previous four months. The WFI president further stated that he is willing to be "hanged," but that wrestling activities, including national championships and camps, should not be halted since it would be bad to cadet and junior wrestlers.