Cops stop Budhia's walk to Kolkata

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New Delhi: Wonder boy Budhia Singh's much-hyped walkathon to Kolkata failed to take off on Wednesday morning. Budhia was to start a 500 kilometer walk from the Orissa Judo Association office in Bhubaneswar.

However, Khurda district's Child Welfare Committee (CWC) had banned the event, which was to go on for 10 days starting Wednesday at 0900 hrs IST, saying that Budhia was being exploited.

The police had reached the Orissa Judo Association office before the walk was to start.

Meanwhile, Budhia's coach, Biranchi Das, on Wednesday resigned from the post of managing trustee of the Budhia Singh Trust (BST), saying that he could not continue as people were doubting his intentions.

However, Das said, "No one can stop the boy from participating in the event." He added that Budhia was free to join the walkathon as an individual. BST's withdrawal from the event is being viewed as an act aimed at evading the ban order.

The CWC, which is a quasi-judicial body, has stated that action would be taken against persons responsible for making Budhia walk such a long distance.

"Action could be initiated against the persons under section 188 of the IPC which involves imprisonment of up to six months and fine or both," CWC Chairperson R S Mishra was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.

Mishra said the ban was imposed to prevent Budhia, found to be medically unsuitable for undertaking any long-distance run or walk, from participating in such a grueling event.

"The CWC is concerned about Budhia's welfare. We are not concerned who is the organiser. Action will certainly be taken if Budhia is found to have been misused or engaged in any event in contravention of the order issued by the CWC," Mishra was further quoted as saying.

Official sources said the CWC has forwarded a copy of its ban order to the district police. "We will seek police help if Budhia is found to have participated in the event," an official was quoted by PTI as saying.

(With inputs from Jajati Karan in Orissa and PTI)