Raging Bull to Million Dollar Boy

They have every reason to celebrate; he is one of their own,after all. But today as Vijender prepares for the toughest bout of his life,the place wears a deserted look. The sense of disbelief is apparent.

Sandeep Singh,who owns a general store opposite Vijender’s house,recalls the days when the boxer,as a kid,used to “steal” biscuits from his shop. “He was a mischievous kid… full of energy,” he says,beaming with pride. “Par pind de munde nu sheher di hawa lag gayi,bhaisaab (the small village boy was spoilt by the big city). We’ll pray for him.”

Prayer is on everyone’s lips here. At a time when athletes’ bad behaviour—gambling,using drugs etc—hardly stands out,the revelations of a certain Anoop Singh Kahlon have put the legacy of one of India’s most decorated Olympians in danger. Vijender is accused of consuming heroin and worse,consorting with drug peddlers.

What intrigues the locals,though,is how someone like Vijender who,they say,is rather shrewd,reserved and ambitious,landed himself in this mess. Mother Krishna Devi weeps inconsolably. “We are ashamed even to go out of the house. The entire family has suffered a lot since this news,” she says. “Viju is a strong boy. We are sure he is innocent. He dreams big and is ambitious… but he is not a fool and knows the difference between right and wrong.”

***

They say he was destined for glory. Coach Jagdish Singh still remembers the time when Vijender would ride his brother’s bicycle to the Bhiwani Boxing Club every single day. As the young boy with a slight frame developed into a dangerous boxer,Jagdish developed high hopes for his ward. At the national championship in 2002,a teenaged Vijender was up against reigning champion Harikrishna. So good was he that when Vijender asked the score after the end of two rounds,Jagdish’s reply was: “Forget the score. You’re on your way to becoming a new star. You’ll be on the front page tomorrow!”

However,one fascinating fact about Vijender is that he just about managed to qualify for each of the three Olympics he has taken part in—scraping through in the final qualification round. While Athens was more of a learning curve,Vijender had started to mature as a boxer as the Beijing Games approached. However,in the first qualifying tournament for the Beijing Olympics,Akhil Kumar won gold and qualified for the Games whereas Vijender failed.

He was then asked to participate in a domestic tournament in Akola before the final squad for the Beijing Olympics was decided. Vijender refused,citing a back problem. He refused to budge despite several officials from the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) and national coach G S Sandhu requesting him. He did turn up for the tournament at the last minute though and the rest,as they say,is history. Vijender not just qualified for the Games but out-performed Akhil to win India’s first-ever boxing medal and become the poster boy of not just Indian boxing but Olympic sports in the country.

A former general secretary of the IABF,Muralidhar Raja,says: “Imagine if he had not turned up for the trials? Or if he had failed at the final qualifying tournament for the Olympics? Luck has always been with him.”

***

India had three medalists from Beijing (others being Abhinav Bindra and Sushil Kumar). But Vijender’s good looks combined with a likable personality and his natural inkling towards acting meant he not only attracted more media attention but also bagged endorsement deals.

Neerav Tomar,the Managing Director and CEO of Infinity Optimal Solutions,a leading sports and entertainment company,says the idea was to portray Vijender as ‘India’s David Beckham’. “We have very few athletes who are goodlooking and have a strong personality. A boxer,an Olympic medalist and a young,goodlooking man is a rare mix and we tried to exploit that,” says Tomar,who worked with the boxer between 2005 and 2009,helping create ‘Brand Vijender’.

Soon after returning from Beijing,he signed his first contract with an insurance firm before being snapped up by a cola company as its first-ever non-cricket sportsperson to endorse their drink.

Soon,be it the usual Page 3 party at a Mumbai nightclub or something as extravagant as the Sunburn Festival in Goa,Vijender was omnipresent. He made appearances on reality shows and got a couple of movie projects. While these failed to take off,he is reportedly “still waiting for the right script”.

Shailendra Singh,Joint Managing Director,Percept,describes Vijender as a “makke ki roti and sarson da saag man”. Shailendra’s firm has been managing Vijender for the last three years and has been responsible for most of his appearances outside the ring. “He is stylish; someone who loves looking good. Maybe he is getting noticed a bit more because generally it is cricket-meets-Bollywood,and hardly ever boxing-meets-Bollywood,” Shailendra says.

In May 2011,Vijender got married to long-time friend and software engineer Archana,whose father is an influential Congress activist from Muzaffarnagar.

***

While his life outside the ring started to blossom,the middleweight boxer’s form started to dip. None of the boxers or coaches questions Vijender’s commitment to the sport. All of them describe him as “sincere”,“hardworking” and an “honest” boxer who has come up the hard way. But post-Beijing,Vijender started remaining aloof at the camps,mingling only with a fixed set of boxers,mainly from Punjab and Haryana. “Viju hamesha udna chahta tha (he always wanted to fly high),” says Jagdish. “I admit he went a bit off track after Beijing. He was surrounded by wrong people. But how could I tell him he had chosen wrong friends?”

Jagdish describes Ram Singh as an “evil influence” who disrupted Vijender’s life. He hints at a couple of other “boxer friends” who had a negative impact on Vijender but refuses to name them. If Jagdish is to be believed,Ram Singh had more than one run-in with the law but managed to go scot free because of his “influential friend Vijender’s reputation” in the state.

“There was a phase when he used to practise here in Bhiwani from Monday to Friday and fly down to Mumbai for the weekend. In hindsight,I feel I should have stopped him,” says the Dronacharya awardee coach.

At the national camps that were held at the National Institute of Sports in Patiala,Vijender started living a quiet and invisible life. It is believed that Ram Singh got admission to the NIS only on the recommendation of Vijender. “Ram Singh was a mediocre boxer. Vijender ensured he got entry at the NIS and the duo were always together,” says a boxer who has represented India at several international meets.

***

By the time the 2009 World Championship arrived,Vijender was struggling to strike a balance between the two worlds,say close friends. “I wasn’t surprised when Vijender lost the World Championship semifinal,because his mind was elsewhere,” Tomar says.

According to him,Vijender had spent valuable time discussing a commercial deal hours before the important fight. “All the discussions (regarding the contract) happened on the day of his bout. I didn’t understand how he could do all these dealings a few hours before the World Championship semifinal,” Tomar says.

Vijender’s career graph hasn’t been too impressive since then. He failed to win a medal at the Delhi Commonwealth Games,where he was cheered on by Rahul Gandhi from the stands. He made a strong statement by winning the gold at the Asian Games in Guangzhou a couple of months later but has hardly won anything significant since.

While he qualified for the London Olympics,again at the last attempt,he lost in the quarterfinal stage.

***

While Vijender signed endorsement deals with a number of brands,only two of those contracts now remain: Venky’s Chicken (expires at the end of this year) and another with the Sahara Group as a part of the deal with the IABF. Abhijeet Sarkar,head of Sahara’s corporate communications,has said the current controversy won’t have any impact on their deal with Vijender,as no charges have been proven against him. “We have adopted around 100 athletes across all disciplines,including archery,boxing etc,to encourage them in their sporting endeavours. Vijender is one of them,” Sarkar was quoted as saying. “…at present,we will continue with this association till 2014.”

Vijender’s three-year contract with Percept Talent too expires this month. Shailendra says he has not considered whether his firm will renew the deal. “He is emotionally very disturbed. Also he has to figure out what he wants to focus on now… For me,this is not business. Vijender is very close to me and right now,I am worried about his well-being,” he says.

Shailendra also believes there is an opportunity to be tapped if Vijender is proved innocent. “It would take a lot of intelligence to turn a crisis into an opportunity. But it has been done in the past. If he comes out of it shining,it can have a multiplier effect.”

The case

VIJENDER Singh’s sparring partner Ram Singh told the police that the Olympian and he took 1-2 grams of heroin for “fun” and that the heroin came from Anoop Singh Kahlon,the main accused in a Rs 130-crore drug haul case who is under arrest.

However,what makes matters worse for the boxer is that his car,registered in his wife’s name,was found parked near Kahlon’s Zirakpur,Mohali,house from where the drugs were recovered. Kahlon has reportedly claimed “links” with several top shot sportspersons,including Ram Singh and Vijender. Police sources say Vijender was a regular visitor to Kahlon’s house. They have records of over a dozen telephone conversations between the two over the past one month.

Ram Singh,an international-level boxer who is employed as a head constable with the Punjab Police,has allegedly also told the police that Vijender had “insisted” on meeting Kahlon on several occasions.

Vijender has denied any links with Kahlon. He has claimed he lent his car to Ram Singh before going to Mumbai and did not know how it landed at Kahlon’s place. He also said that since he was a celebrity,he didn’t know all the people he talked to on the phone.

Questioned by the police for almost three hours on March 11,he stonewalled most questions about his involvement in the drug bust. He has also refused to give his blood and hair samples for forensic examination.

Police are likely to move court against Vijender next week,seeking its help to collect his blood and hair samples. Evidence of drug use stays in the hair for only a few months. The Punjab Police has decided not to accept the result of a test on any sample collected from the boxer by any other agency,including the Haryana Police,Vijender’s employer.

The arrested

Anoop Singh Kahlon alias Ruby and

Kulwinder Singh alias Rocky

After Kahlon’s arrest,a raid at his Mohali house on March 7 led to the recovery of over 26 kg of heroin worth Rs 130 crore. A university gold medalist shot put champion,Kahlon got into the Punjab Police in 1993 before leaving for Canada.

Manpreet Singh Gill alias Mani and Gabbar Singh

They were held on March 8 along with 20 kg of a chemical used to make rave party drugs,along with Rs 1 crore in cash and 2 kg of heroin.

Sunil Katyal

Ludhiana-based Katyal,who works in a pharma factory,reportedly tested the “purity and quality” of drugs sent to him by Gill. Was held on March 10.

Harpreet Singh

Based in Patiala,he was the alleged conduit between suppliers and those who sent and distributed the drugs abroad. Was held on March 19.

Kirpal Singh

A retired DSP of UP Police from Meerut,he was running a pharmaceutical factory and was allegedly one of the main suppliers of raw materials,including amphetamine,used for production of the drug ice. Held on March 19.

Kulwant Singh

A UK citizen originally from Phagwara,he was the alleged organiser of a distribution network in Europe and Canada to sell the drugs. He was arrested from a hotel in Delhi’s Mahipalpur area on March 19.

Paramjit Singh alias Sardar

The drug trade from Mohali to the Netherlands was reportedly being supervised by Singh,a resident of Rajouri Garden in Delhi. He was brought to Chandigarh from Tihar jail on March 11.

Amandeep Billa

He was in Burail jail in Chandigarh on the charge of procuring 1 kg heroin from Kahlon and transporting a part of it abroad. He was formally arrested in this case on March 12.

The Wanted

Jagdish Bhola

A national wrestling champion and former Arjuna awardee and ‘Rustam-e-Hind’. His house in Mohali Phase 10 was raided by the police on March 8 and over 10 kg of chemical used in synthesising drugs along with Rs 8.7 lakh recovered. Following previous drug charges,he had already been stripped of the Arjuna award.

Deepinder Singh alias Pindi

A resident of Canada,he allegedly runs a hawala racket with Gill and is the common link with Kahlon.

Chitleen K Sethi