New Delhi: The ongoing crisis in Indian wrestling took a fresh twist on Wednesday when hundreds of junior wrestlers assembled at Jantar Mantar here to protest against the loss of one crucial year of their careers, a situation for which they blamed top grapplers Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat.
Loaded in buses, the junior wrestlers arrived from Close to 300 of them came from Arya Samaj Akhara in Chhaprauli, Baghpat while many others came from the Virender Wrestling Academy in Narela. Many are still packed in buses and they plan to deboard and join their colleagues when more wrestlers arrive at the landmark protest site.
The security personnel struggled to control them as they shouted slogans against Punia, Malik and Phogat. The protesters were carrying banners that read: 'UWW save our wrestling from these 3 wrestlers'. Ironically, almost a year back at the same protest site, the top three wrestlers had managed to draw huge support for their cause when they called for the arrest of former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh after accusing him of sexually harassing women wrestlers.