Wrestlers Protest: Two FIRs registered against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh

New Delhi— Amidst the ongoing protest of the nation’s top wrestlers at Jantar Mantar two FIRs were filed on Friday night at Connaught Place police station against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the president of the Wrestling Federation of India and a BJP member of Parliament.

The Supreme Court was hearing a plea by protesting wrestlers against Singh when the Delhi Police earlier in the day told the court that it would file an FIR against Singh, the defendant in the sexual accusation claims.

The action comes six days after top national wrestlers Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia protested by squatting at Jantar Mantar for the second time since January. The claims against Brij Bhushan, who has overseen the wrestling organization since 2012, were originally made by the wrestlers in January.

After the Supreme Court's directions to register an FIR against BJP MP, protesting wrestlers held a press conference on Friday afternoon and said that they would continue their protest till the detention of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

Sakshi Malik stated, "The protests will continue, but this is our first step towards triumph."

Since Sunday, the wrestlers have been protesting and calling for Brij Bhushan to be fired from his position as president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and to face criminal charges.

On social media earlier on Friday, a number of well-known athletes showed their support for the demonstrators. The only two individual Olympic gold medalists from India, Abhinav Bindra, and Neeraj Chopra, were thanked by Bajrang Punia for extending their support in favor of the wrestlers.

Bajrang dispelled any concerns that the wrestlers would be satisfied with the FIR registration and Brij Bhushan's expulsion from the federation alone. Bajrang pointed to the life-size poster of the several cases against Brij Bhushan that was placed at the protest site and added, "There's a full list of FIRs against him. He is allowed to wander despite numerous lawsuits being brought against him. This demonstration will go on until he's in jail. The bronze medalist from the Tokyo Olympics stated that they will also monitor the sections under which the police have filed the FIR.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra today met the protesting wrestlers at Jantar Mantar and have extended support for their protest. Meanwhile Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh did a press conference this morning saying he is ready to resign if wrestlers end their protest. While he also said that he hasn't done anything according to the charges pressed against him by the wrestlers.

The wrestlers initially arrived in Jantar Mantar in January, but after talks with the Sports Ministry and the creation of an oversight committee, they decided to disband. The wrestlers were back in the streets because they were concerned that WFI was regaining power and had questions about the committee's recommendations. According to Bajrang, neither the ministry nor the nation's sports minister, Anurag Thakur, supported the wrestlers.