Delhi Police files ATR in court; says no offence of hate speech against wrestlers

New Delhi: In response to a request for a First Information Report (FIR) against protesting wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, and Sakshi Malik for allegedly making "false allegations" against BJP MP and Wrestlers Foundation of India (WFI) the chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the Delhi Police filed an action taken report (ATR) before a court on Friday.

For making "false allegations" against BJP MP and Wrestlers Foundation of India (WFI) head Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, protesting wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, and Sakshi Malik were named in an action taken report (ATR) that the Delhi Police filed before a court on Friday, Indian Express reported.

In their report, the Delhi Police stated that the complainant had claimed that the wrestlers had chanted anti-Prime Minister Narendra Modi slogans at Jantar Mantar, claiming that this constitutes hate speech. “…it is evident that they threatened to kill the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India,” the complainant said.

However, the Delhi Police claimed that there are no instances of hate speech in the video that the complainant provided and that the wrestlers are not seen raising slogans.

“From the contents of the complaint and video clip provided by the complainant no cognizable offence of hate speech is made out. The protester wrestlers Sh. Bajrang Punia, Ms Vinesh Phogat, and other wrestlers are not seen raising any such slogan in this clip,” the Police said in its report.

The Police requested that the application be dismissed by the court. The application was submitted on behalf of Bam Bam Maharaj Nauhatiya, who identified himself as the national leader of the "Atal Jan Party." On July 7, the court set a new hearing date for the matter.

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