Wrestlers' protest: SIT formed to probe allegations against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, Delhi Police tells court

The Delhi Police recorded the statements of Wrestling Federation of India President, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and Secretary Vinod Tomar in the alleged sexual harassment case by women wrestlers against Singh.

New Delhi: The Delhi Police has recorded the statement of Wrestling Federation of India President, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and Secretary Vinod Tomar in the alleged sexual harassment case by women wrestlers against Singh who has denied the allegations, officials told a court here on Friday. The Delhi Police on Friday submitted before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Harjeet Singh Jaspal that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted to probe the allegations of sexual harassment levelled by women wrestlers against WFI president Brij Bhushan Singh.

The submission was made in response to the court's earlier order directing the police to file a stratus report. A Delhi Police spokesman said that on the complaint of the wrestlers, the statement of WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh was recorded and some documents were demanded from him in the case.

The court has posted the matter for further hearing on May 27. “Brij Bhushan denied the allegations levelled against him,” the Delhi Police spokesman said. The Delhi Police has formed a Special Investigation Team comprising six police teams including four women police officers to probe the allegations against Singh.

Besides Singh, statements of Assistant Secretary WFI Vinod Tomar were also recorded. Vinod Tomar is also an accused in Delhi Police's FIR. Public prosecutor Atul Srivastava told the court that a status report has been filed in the matter. He however requested the court that the report must not be shared with anyone considering the nature of the case.

The report has been filed by the Delhi Police in the court in a sealed cover. An official said that Brij Bhushan Sharan has asked to collect some video evidence and mobile data in his clarification. The SIT will interrogate Brij Bhushan further in the case, the official said. On the complaint of the wrestlers, the Delhi Police teams had gone to Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Haryana and have collected evidence on the wrestler's complaint.

Delhi Police is in touch with the concerned agencies even where allegations have been levelled outside the country, an official said. The Delhi Police last month registered two FIRs against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. While the first FIR registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and relevant sections of the IPC, pertains to allegations levelled by a minor wrestlers, the second relates to outraging of modesty of adults wrestlers.

Several ace wrestlers have been on a sit-in at Jantar Mantar in Delhi since Apr. 23 demanding arrest of WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and removal from the posts he holds.