The wrestlers’ stir gained a wave of sympathy after police action on Wednesday night. Opposition leaders spoke out against the alleged police excess and supporters of the protest were stopped from entering the capital on Thursday.

At around 11pm on Wednesday, Aam Aadmi Party MLA Somnath Bharti arrived with foldable cots at the protest site on Jantar Mantar Road which was flooded after heavy rain.

He was stopped by the police on grounds that he did not have permission to bring additional material onto the road — which is the only designated protest site in New Delhi and is regulated by the police. This led to, what DCP (New Delhi) Pranav Tayal called a “minor altercation.”

The wrestlers got into a scuffle with the police and were able to forcibly bring in some cots. Several of them, including women, as well as freelance journalist Sakshi Joshi, were allegedly roughed up. The wrestlers claimed that two of their supporters were injured. By 1.30am on Thursday, the police had detained Bharti, Delhi Commission for Women chairperson Swati Maliwal and Congress MP Deepender Hooda.

Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, Sangeeta Phogat and Bajrang Punia broke down in tears. “The place is flooded, there is no place for us to sleep... When we were bringing in the cots, a policeman began to push us. Brijbhushan (Wrestling Federation of India chief and BJP MP Brijbhushan Sharan Singh) can sleep peacefully but they won’t let us have even a cot,” Vinesh said.

“If you want to kill us, do it. If we won medals only to see this day, then I wouldn’t want any player to bring a medal for the country,” she added.

It was alleged that a policeman had manhandled Vinesh and Sakshi. DCP Tayal said no alcohol was found in the blood of the suspected constable in the medical test. He claimed that five of his colleagues, including two women personnel, were injured.

Bajrang, a Tokyo Olympic Games bronze medallist, said he felt like returning his awards. “If this is how the wrestlers will be treated, what will we do with the medals? Rather return all the medals and awards to the government,” Bajrang said.

Vinesh, Sakshi and Bajrang are all winners of Khel Ratna, the country’s highest sporting honour. Sakshi (2017) and Bajrang (2019) are also recipients of the Padma Shri.

Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and several other opposition leaders condemned the police action. “Disrobing the honour of our daughters in this manner is utterly shameful,” Mamata tweeted.