Rising wrestling champion Sikandar Shaikh arrested
The arrest of Maharashtra’s top wrestler Sikandar Shaikh by the Punjab police in an inter-state arms smuggling case has unleashed a controversy with some of the political leaders alleging that he might have been framed in the case due to sports rivalry.
The Mohali police have gone on record saying that Shaikh was arrested along with others for allegedly purchasing the weapons for a local network.
Shaikh (26) is the winner of the Under-23 National Wrestling Championship which was held in Shirdi and during the 2023 season. He won the coveted Maharashtra Kesari, one of the most prestigious mud-wrestling competitions.
Subsequently, Shaikh came trumps in the 2024 edition of Rustam-e-Hind — held in Jandla in Rupnagar in Nangal district of Punjab — a tournament in which wrestlers from north India historically have dominated.
Shaikh had set sights for the 2026 Asian Games, to be held in Japan, in mat-wrestling.
Shaikh, who hails from a family of wrestlers based in Mohol in Solapur district was trained in the Gandwish Talim in Kolhapur. Has been living in Mullanpur Garibdas in Mohali for the past five to six months.
On their part, both the Ajit Pawar-led NCP and Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) have taken up the issue of Shaikh with the Punjab government.
NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule and her nephew and Karjat Jamkhed MLA Rohit Pawar, have spoken to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on this issue.
“In matters relating to Maharashtra Kesari wrestler Sikandar Shaikh, MLA Rohit Pawar and I have contacted the Chief Minister of Punjab Bhagwant Mann Ji. The Chief Minister has assured us that he will update us on the matter by this afternoon. We are awaiting his response,” said Sule, who is an MP from Baramati.
NCP’s Solapur district chief Umesh Patil, who also hails from Mohol, said he suspected that Shaikh might have been framed by local wrestlers due to sports rivalry.
