UP: Kabaddi players served food kept on toilet floor, official suspended
The regional sports officer of Saharanpur, Animesh Saxena, has been suspended by the Uttar Pradesh government after players at a state level kabaddi tournament at the Dr. B R Ambedkar stadium in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur, alleged that they were served substandard food kept in a toilet.
The issue came to light after a video showing cooked rice and puri kept on the toilet floor, went viral on social media on Sunday (September 18). The video is said to have been shot by a player participating in the tournament.
Food served to kabaddi players in #UttarPradesh kept in toilet. Is this how #BJP respects the players? Shameful! pic.twitter.com/SkxZjyQYza
— YSR (@ysathishreddy) September 20, 2022
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An inquiry into the incident has been ordered by the Saharanpur district magistrate Akhilesh Singh. Additional district magistrate (finance) Rajbeer Kumar Mishra will probe the matter starting Monday (September 19) and will submit the report in three days.
The additional chief secretary of sports Navneet Sehgal has suspended the accused, the regional sports officer of Saharanpur, Animesh Saxena.
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The incident took place during a three-day long state level sub junior kabaddi tournament organized at the Dr. B R Ambedkar stadium of Saharanpur from September 16 onwards.
Many players had complained of getting half cooked rice on September 16. They also alleged that they were made to wait in long queues for the food. Later, utensils filled with rice and puri were spotted inside a toilet.
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However, according to the now suspended regional sports officer of Saharanpur, Animesh Saxena, the food kept in the toilet was the previous day’s leftover rice and puri. It was kept there in order to keep it away from the fresh food.
