Aide’s confession puts Vijender in trouble

March 10, 2013

Vijender_in_trouble

Chandigarh, Mar 10: Olympic medallist Vijender Singh appears to be heading for some trouble, with fellow boxer Ram Singh confessing before the Punjab Police that the duo had “experimented” with heroin towards the end of 2012.

The police on Thursday seized 26 kg of heroin valued at Rs 130 crore in the international market from two persons, identified as Anoop Singh Kahlon and Rocky.

Ram Singh, who has been Vijender’s roommate at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Patiala for several years, told the police that he had procured drugs from the two persons arrested in the case around six times till February. Singh, however, clarified that neither he nor Vijender was habituated to drugs.

Meanwhile, Kahlon, a Canada-based NRI?and former national level short putter, tried to commit suicide in police custody on Friday evening.

The alleged kingpin of an international drug racket slit his wrist with a wire. He was immediately rushed to hospital and discharged after treatment.

The police are yet to summon Vijender. They are ascertaining the veracity of the charges against the ace boxer. As of now, there is no direct evidence to link Vijender with peddlers.

The police have so far made six arrests in the case and seized some chemical substances.

According to sources, Ram Singh told the police that the duo had visited Kahlon’s Zirakpur residence on a few occasions since they started dabbling in heroin in December last year.

Singh also confessed to have made Vijender try heroin.

Vijender has trashed the allegations. “I completely deny the allegations. I do not know the person in question and I am not involved with him in any way. I may have met him but don’t know him personally or directly. I am more than willing to cooperate with the police and I have nothing to hide. My wife’s car being found at the scene is just a coincidence. The person in custody is possibly using my name to mislead the authorities and malign me.

My focus is and has always been my career,” he said.

Vijender came under the scanner after a car registered in the name of his wife was found outside Kahlon’s residence. Vijender is a recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award and a deputy SP with the Haryana Police.

Another name that cropped up during the interrogations was that of wrestler Jagdish Bhola, a former police officer and Arjuna award recipient. Bhola is facing cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

The Punjab Police have recovered 10 kg of narcotics, used mainly in rave parties, from his house in Mohali district.

The contraband was valued at over Rs 1 crore in the international market. The police said the drugs were supplied to rave parties in Mumbai and Himachal Pradesh.

Bhola was earlier deputed as a DSP in Punjab, but suspended in 2002 after his name figured in a drug racket. He was also stripped of the Arjuna award. “We got a tip-off that drugs have been kept at Jagdish’s house during the interrogation of an international drug smuggler. We conducted raids, but Jagdish managed to flee. He is wanted in many other cases related to drug smuggling,” said the senior superintendent of the Fatehgarh Sahib police, who led the raid.

However, the police managed to arrest two accomplices of Jagdish and recovered Rs 1 crore in cash, 20 kg of narcotic chemicals and 2 kg of heroin. They were identified as Manpreet Singh and Gabbar Singh.

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Agencies
August 1,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 1: Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are aiming to set up their preparatory camp for the 13th edition of the tournament from early August.

This year's IPL was slated to commence from March 29 but the tournament was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Recently, the IPL Governing Council chairman Brijesh Patel had confirmed that the 13th edition of the mega event will commence on September 19 in the UAE.

As per a report in ESPNcricinfo, CSK players have been asked to report to Chennai first, following which they will leave for Dubai via a charter flight only after approval from the Indian government.

The IPL Governing Council will meet on August 2 to finalise the schedule and other key arrangements for the tournament. Also, the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) around securing eight teams for 51 days across three venues will be formally established in that meeting.

CSK, who has the oldest squad in the IPL, are looking for a month's preparation before ahead of the tournament.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, the side was the first team to start their training camp in March. Senior players like Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu had begun training their training in December 2019.

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News Network
April 7,2020

Bengaluru, April 7: India batsman Robin Uthappa has said that he reckons he still has a World Cup left in him, despite being out of the team for than four years.

Uthappa had last played a match for the Men in Blue in 2015 on the tour of Zimbabwe.

"Right now I want to be competitive. I still have that fire burning in me, I really want to compete and do well. I honestly believe I have a World Cup left in me, so I'm pursuing that, especially the shortest format. 

The blessings of lady luck or god or whatever you call it, plays a massive factor," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Uthappa as saying.

"Especially in India, it becomes so much more evident. I don't think it is as evident when you're playing cricket outside of India. But in the subcontinent and India especially, with the amount of talent that we do have in our country, all of those aspects become evident," he added.

The 34-year-old Uthappa has played 46 ODIs and 13 T20Is for India and he was also a part of the T20 World Cup-winning squad in 2007.

Uthappa has scored 934 runs in ODIs at an average of 25.94, while in T20Is his numbers are 249 runs at an average of 24.90.

"You can never write yourself off. You would be unfair to yourself if you write yourself off.

Especially if you believe you have the ability and you know that there is an outside chance. So I still believe in that outside chance," Uthappa said.

"I still believe that things can go my way and I probably can be a part of a World Cup-winning team and play an integral role in that as well.

Those dreams are still alive and I think I'll keep playing cricket till that is alive," he added.

Uthappa had enjoyed great success with IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders. He went on to become their leading run-scorer in the 2014 edition.

However, he was released by the side after a below-par 2019 season, and last November he was picked up by the Rajasthan Royals for the 2020 edition.

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News Network
May 15,2020

New Delhi, May 15: Former England skipper David Gower feels Sourav Ganguly has the right "political skills" to lead the ICC one day and he has already displayed that as BCCI president, which is a "far tougher job".

The elegant left-hander is very impressed with Ganguly's leadership abilities and believes that he has what it takes to head the global body in the future.

"One thing I have learnt over the years is that if you are going to run BCCI, you need to be many, many things. Having a reputation like he (Ganguly) has is a very good start, but you need to be a very deft politician.

"You need to have control of a million different things," Gower said ahead of "Q20", a unique chat show for the fans presented by 'GloFans'.

Gower reckons being president of the BCCI is the toughest job imaginable in world cricket.

"And of course, you need to be responsible for a game that is followed by, I mean, should we say a billion people here in India," he said.

"We all know about the immense following for cricket in India. So it is indeed a wonderful thing to behold. Sourav has the toughest task imaginable in charge of BCCI, but so far I would say the signs are very good.

"He has listened, given his own opinion and has pulled strings gently," he said.

Political skills are a must in administration and that's where Gower finds his fellow left-hander ticking all the boxes.

"He is a very, very good man and has those political skills. He has the right attitude and can keep things together and will do good job. And if you do a good job as BCCI chief in the future, who knows?

"But I would actually say the more important job, to be honest, is running BCCI. Being head of ICC is an honour, there is a lot that can be done by ICC, but actually look at the rankings, look at where the power is heading up. BCCI is definitely the bigger job," he said.

On the cricketing front, Gower believes World Test Championship has given the format much-needed context.

"The idea of this World Test Championship has come about for one very simple reason that people are worried about the survival of Tests. Back in the seventies, eighties, I don't think we needed context to be fair.

"Test cricket was very much more obviously the most important format and if there was anything to be judged by, it was the performances in Test matches both as an individual and as a team.

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