Parent of young athlete makes extortion claim in Manipur, then backtracks: ‘Miscommunicated’

The Under-19 Wushu and Archery events of the 69th National School Games were held in Imphal from January 14 to 18, and a total of 31 teams participated in the Wushu events, including a team from Rajasthan.

Following the circulation of the video and the subsequent alarm it generated, Mayengbam Veto Singh, director of the Manipur Youth and Sports Department, wrote to Imphal West district’s Superintendent of Police to take “necessary legal action”.

According to a government official, no complaint had been filed regarding this by the delegation, which left Imphal on Monday.

“We had asked all teams to inform us about their travel plans so we could organise security arrangements, but they didn’t, and travelled by road from Dimapur to Imhal on the intervening night of 12th and 13th. After arriving and throughout the duration of their stay, they didn’t report anything. Once we saw the video, the Imphal police station SHO called them and asked them, but what they told police was a little different… that there was no extortion at gunpoint. It is still being looked into, but there is still no police complaint,” said the official.

Sunde told The Indian Express, “Since we don’t make videos usually, maybe there was some mistake in the way we had spoken. We didn’t realise the matter would escalate so much. When we were travelling, we were stopped by some people, who took the driver aside for some time, but the team was not extorted.”