CWG shame again for India, 2 officials held

Despite a creditable showing by its athletes, the Indian contingent will leave the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in embarrassment four years after hosting the previous edition in a blaze of negative publicity.

Two officials brought shame to India when they were arrested on Saturday evening, the penultimate day of the Games. While Rajeev Mehta, secretarygeneral of the Indian Olympic Association, was held for alleged drink driving, wrestling referee Virender Singh Malik was arrested on charges of sexual assault. They were lodged in custody over the weekend and will be produced in a Glasgow court on Monday.

“On August 2, a 49-year-old man was arrested following reports of alleged drunken driving in City Centre of Glasgow. The same day, a 45-year-old man was apprehended over an alleged assault in the west of Glasgow,” a police spokeswoman said.

Mehta and Malik were reportedly staying in hotels outside the accommodation arranged for Games contingents. Malik is a category 1 referee.

Although India’s chef-de-mission Raj Singh claimed Malik was not a part of the official contingent, HT has learnt that the latter was recommended by wrestling federation of India (WFI) along with another referee and was cleared by the sports ministry and the IOA. “Without the recommendation of the federation, no person can go abroad and officiate in wrestling events,” a WFI functionary told HT.

The Indian high commission here said: “We’ve learnt about the detention of two members of the Commonwealth contingent by the local (Glasgow) police. Our consulate in Edinburgh has deputed an official to Glasgow to keep in close touch with the police to ascertain the full facts of the case.

We are also in touch with the team”.