An FIR has been registered against badminton star Lakshya Sen for giving false information about his age.
On Friday, the Bengaluru police registered an FIR against him. A day before this, he was given the Arjuna Award for his outstanding contribution to the game.
Along with Lakshya, an FIR has been lodged against his family members and coach for giving false information about his age.
In this case, a police complaint was first lodged against Lakshya Sen., But the police refused to take the criticism.
Some parents fighting against the age fraud case in the Badminton Association of India had reached the court. After this, the local court directed the police to file a complaint.
Complainant MG Nagaraj has alleged that Dhirendra Kumar Sen and his wife, Nirmala Sena, had changed the date of birth of their two sons, Chirag Sen and Lakshya Sen, so that they could play in a lower age group.
Chirag Sen is also a badminton player. It has been said in Nagraj’s complaint that on this basis, both have been participating in badminton competitions since 2010.
Lakshya Sen won the gold medal in Badminton at the Commonwealth Games 2022 held in Britain.
What is stated in the complaint?
It has been said in this complaint that the date of birth of Lakshya Sen has been given as 2001. But he was born in 1998.
Telling the wrong age, Lakshya Sen took part in the competition of his younger age group and took advantage of other facilities provided by the government. This is cheating on other talented kids and sportspersons.
Lakshya Sen’s father, Dhirendra Sen, is also named in the FIR. Dhirendra Sen is also a badminton coach. A complaint has also been lodged against Lakshya Sen’s mother, Nirmala Sen, brother Chirag Sen and his coach Vimal Kumar.
The BBC tried to contact Lakshya Sen’s family members and coach Vimal Kumar to talk about the matter. But there was no response from their side.
Vimal Kumar messaged that he would call. If they reply, it will be included in the story.
Complainant Nagaraj told BBC Hindi, “The parents of 37 children had approached the Karnataka High Court against the indiscriminate age rigging. But, unfortunately, in our petition, solid evidence of such rigging was given.”
He says, “The court had given its order in the year 2018, in which it was said that within three weeks, the Badminton Association of India should take steps according to the law in this matter, but nothing happened.”
An investigation has also been done against Lakshya Sen’s father.
Nilesh Prabhu, another parent who reached the court, said, “The Sports Integrity Cell of the CBI had conducted an investigation against Dhirendra Kumar Sen in 2015 based on an anonymous complaint. It is understood that the complaint was from the parents of a player. In this cell of CBI convicted, four people, including Chirag Sen.”
Prabhu said, “When Dhirendra Kumar Sen was the coach of the Sports Authority in Almora, in 2016, the CBI accused him of altering the date of birth of Chirag Sen. After this, the vigilance of the Sports Authority of India investigated the matter.” After investigation, it recommended the dismissal of Dhirendra Kumar Sen.”
Prabhu said, “In the criminal complaint we have filed in the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court of Bengaluru, we have also attached the documents related to these investigations.”
The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court has asked the police station to register an FIR in this matter and investigate.
The Sen family and Vimal Kumar have been accused of cheating and forgery. A complaint has been lodged against him under sections of the IPC.
Dhirendra Kumar Sen is the Chief Coach of Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy.
The success of Lakshya Sen
Lakshya Sen won the Gold Medal in the Commonwealth Games held in Buckingham (UK). In Badminton, in the men’s singles final, Lakshya Sen defeated Zee Yong Ng of Malaysia in a three-game match.
Earlier, Lakshya Sen reached the final of the All England Open Badminton Championship. But there, he was defeated by Viktor Axelsen of Denmark.
Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen was considered to have a slight upper hand in the match. But Lakshya gave him a tough challenge in the second game. The half looked evenly matched in the second game at one stage, but Lakshya soon came under pressure.
Born in Almora, Uttarakhand, Lakshya Sen is a resident of the same place. About 5 feet 11 inches tall, Sen has taken training from renowned badminton coaches Vimal Kumar, Pullela Gopichand, and Yong Soo Yu.
He has also trained at Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy.
