Reports: Olympian Shivpal Singh and weightlifter Swati Singh sustain injuries after a physical altercation on Holi
As per reports, Olympian Shivpal Singh and weightlifter Swati Singh were severely injured on March 25 after a brawl broke out between two groups in Lucknow. As a result, the cross FIRs were registered at the Sushant Golf City police station by both groups on March 26.
According to Swati, she was in the car along with Shivpal Singh, a Javelin thrower, and Tanveer Gujjar, and they were going toward Khurdahi Bazar. As Shivpal and Tanveer stopped for some work, a vehicle comprising a few men approached them.
After one of the men abused Swati, Shivpal and Tanveer got involved in a physical altercation. They even dialed 112, but one of the men, before the police could reach out, came out of the car and beat the three athletes, leaving them severely injured.
“One of the men inside the car passed a lewd comment on me, to which I objected," Swati said in the FIR. "He then abused me after which my two friends raised objections and dialed 112. However, the men came out of their car and started thrashing my friends."
"One of the men, Pratyush Shukla dragged me out of my car and hit me with some heavy weapon leaving me severely injured," she added. "The head injury was so severe that I had to get four stitches done."
On the other hand, Chandan Shukla, one of the men from the other group, filed a complaint that a girl along with four youths approached and thrashed them. According to him, the SHO of Sushant Golf City, Anjani Kumar Mishra, and other female cops were present during the time of the incident.
Furthermore, Mishra stated that Swati was found to be in a drunken state and initiated her brawl with Shukla.
“We reached the site and found that Swati Singh was in a drunken state due to which the medical examination couldn’t take place,” said Mishra.
The investigation is still ongoing, and a clearer picture will come out in a few days.
Shivpal Singh and Swati Singh's past accomplishments
A Javelin thrower, Shivpal Singh clinched a silver medal in the 2019 Asian Championships with a throw of 86.23 meters. He was then a part of the Indian contingent for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
However, in October 2021, Shivpal tested positive for a banned substance, metandienone. As a result, the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) suspended him for four years until October 2025. Nevertheless, after NADA found that the fake/contaminated supplement was behind Shivpal's positive test, his ban was lifted last year.
Meanwhile, Swati Singh is a weightlifter who secured a bronze medal in the 2014 Commonwealth Games. In 2019, she was banned for two years, after being found to have tested positive for Morphine.