Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Feb 4: Legendary athlete and Indian Olympic Association president PT Usha alleged encroachment and hooliganism at her academy, the Usha School of Athletics, in Balussery, Kerala on Saturday. She also requested Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to assist in ending the ongoing unrest.
In an effort to assist India create Olympic gold winners, the Usha School of Athletics was founded in 2002 and now trains thousands of athletes from all around the nation. Speaking at a news conference in New Delhi, PT Usha claimed that since she was elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha last year, the act of encroachment and hooliganism increased.
“Some people barged into compound of Usha School of Athletics and began construction work. When management confronted them, they misbehaved. They claimed that they had permission from Panangad panchayat, we complained to police & work was stopped,” said PT Usha, President, IOA.
“People including drug addicts, couples barge into the compound at night and few dump waste into drainage. We are being targeted continuously. We need to make sure of the safety of our girls. We request Kerala CM to interfere and resolve this issue,” she added.
She also expressed worry for the safety of female athletes at her academy. The former Olympian claimed they had previously attempted to erect a fence around the academy but had been unable owing to financial limitations.
“It is a growing institution, so many athletes are being trained there and this is not the first time such an incident has taken place. Safety of the girls studying there is our key concern, we still couldn’t build a fence or boundary around the area,” she said.
People including drug addicts, couples barge into compound at night and few dump waste into drainage. We are being targeted continuously. We need to make sure of the safety of our girls. We request Kerala CM to interfere and resolve this issue: PT Usha, President, IOA pic.twitter.com/o0fTLnOrzr
— ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2023
Usha’s accusations followed the IOA president’s assertion that some individuals recently broke into the institution and started doing construction work. The intruders were expelled from the academy after a formal complaint was made to the neighbourhood police department.
