New Delhi, Apr 28 (PTI) Congress MP Deepender Hooda Friday called for a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the issue raised by the protesting wrestlers to find out who were "protecting" the accused.

Hooda also hit out at Sports Minister Anurag Thakur and Indian Olympics Association President PT Usha for "failing" to get justice for the protesting wrestlers.

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The Congress MP's remarks came after protesting wrestlers rejoiced "the first step towards victory" as Delhi Police decided to file an FIR against Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Delhi Police, told a Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha that the FIR would be registered on Friday.

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Hooda, who earlier in the day joined the protesting wrestlers at Jantar Mantar to express solidarity with them, said the Delhi Police has been told to file an FIR but along with that, their other demands should also be accepted.

"They (the protesting wrestlers) have been seeking redressal of their grievances for three months. This delay in justice and efforts to protect the accused by the government machinery have come to the fore.

"There should be an inquiry as to who all tried to protect the accused and how far there is a connection in this with the government. There should be a Supreme Court-monitored probe into it," Hooda said in a video statement.

He also said that Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur cannot escape responsibility in the matter and should also come forward to tell people why he and his ministry were not able to give justice to the athletes who brought laurels to the country.

The first step towards justice was taken only after the Supreme Court intervened, Hooda said.

The Rajya Sabha MP also hit out at Indian Olympics Association (IOC) President PT Usha for criticising the wrestlers protesting in Delhi.

"IOC chief PT Usha's remarks that athletes were indulging in indiscipline have been rejected and it has been proven that they were only struggling for justice. On moral grounds, the IOA chief has no right to stay on that post as her remarks were found not to be true," Hooda said.

Several national award-winning wrestlers have been protesting at Jantar Mantar demanding the government make public the findings of an oversight panel that investigated the sexual harassment allegations against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh who is also a BJP MP.

The wrestlers had asserted they won't leave the protest site until Singh is arrested. They resumed their sit-in protest on Sunday and demanded that the findings of the oversight panel that investigated the allegations be made public.

The panel was set up by the Sports Ministry in January after the wrestlers held a three-day sit-in.

Top wrestlers such as Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik staged a sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar in January and accused the WFI boss of sexual exploitation and intimidation. The wrestlers had demanded that WFI be disbanded and its president removed.

The sports ministry had then formed an oversight committee headed by boxing great MC Mary Kom on January 23 and asked it to submit its findings in one month.

Later, it extended the deadline by two weeks and also added Babita Phogat to the probe panel as its sixth member at the insistence of the protesting wrestlers.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)