An FIR was lodged in Bengaluru by Mr. M. Goviappa Nagaraja against India’s number one badminton player Lakshya Sen, his family, and former trainer U. Vimal Kumar for cheating and age fraud.
Incident In Detail
The 2022 Commonwealth Gold Medalist Lakshya Sen and his brother Chirag Sen are accused of forging their age to play age-group matches and compete at junior levels since 2010.
Lakshya and Chirag’s parents, Dhirendra Sen and Nirmala Sen, and former coach U. Vimal Kumar are also held accountable for fraudulence in the FIR. Dhirendra Sen is himself associated with the Sports Authority of India as a coach there.
All five of them have been allegedly charged with forgery under Section 468, acts done by several persons of common intention under Section 34, cheating under Section 420, and using a forged document as genuine under Section 471 as per the Indian Penal Code.
Lakshya Accused Of Forging Birth Certificate
Mr. M. Goviappa Nagaraja, who lodged a complaint against the Sen brothers, is the owner of another academy in Bengaluru himself. He accused the Arjuna Award winner and 6th-ranked badminton player in the world, Lakshya Sen, of doctoring his age in junior-level tournaments.
According to official reports, Lakshya was born in 2001, but Nagaraja allegedly states that Lakshya’s year of birth is 1998. Nagaraja goes on to further accuse Lakshya’s former national coach, U. Vimal Kumar, who is currently the chief coach at Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, saying that he helped Lakshya’s parents make a fraudulent copy of his birth certificate in 2010.
Kumar shockingly told PTI, “It is very annoying. It is cheap stuff. Lakshya has done well and has started training again after a break. It is mentally very disturbing for him.” He also added that the accusations were “baseless, frivolous and made with malicious intent.”
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Denying The Charges
Kumar defended Lakshya and himself. Denying all the allegations, he said, “As all badminton lovers are aware, age verification is the sole prerogative and responsibility of the Badminton Association of India which is the sole governing authority for administering the game in India.”
In addition, he also said, “All players no matter where they train always represent their respective affiliated state units or the country while participating in any domestic or international tournament. My focus over the 30 years as a coach has always been to groom our upcoming youngsters to the best of my ability to bring laurels for our country based on their merit. I therefore deny all these false allegations against me. I would not like to make any further comments in this regard.”
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Disclaimer: This article is fact-checked
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Feature Image designed by Saudamini Seth
Source: The Print, The Times Of India & India Today
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This post is tagged under: Lakshya Sen, sports, badminton, badminton player, 2022 Commonwealth, gold medalist, Arjuna Award, Indian player, athlete, coach, U. Vimal Kumar, shuttler, badminton tournament, age fraud, fraud, birth certificate, forgery, cheating, case filed, accusation, charged, FIR lodged
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