One more held in Uttarakhand for passing casteist slur on hockey player Vandana Katariya's family

DEHRADUN: One more person has been held for passing casteist remarks on national women's hockey team player Vandana Katariya's family taking the number of those arrested in connection with the case to three.

Twenty-two-year-old Sumit Chauhan was arrested from his home on Saturday, Haridwar SSP Senthil Avoodai Krishna Raj S said.

With his arrest, three people have been arrested in connection with the case, the other two being Vijay Pal and his brother Ankur Pal who were arrested earlier, he said.

They have all been booked under Section 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the official said.

They are charged with dancing and bursting fire crackers outside Vandana's house in a gesture of mockery soon after the Indian women's hockey team lost to Argentina in Olympics semifinals.

They also allegedly passed a casteist slur against the family saying that the team had lost because it had too many Dalit players in it.

Meanwhile, police personnel have been deployed outside the Olympian's house in Roshnabad area for the family's security, he said.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has announced a reward of Rs 25 lakh for Katariya in recognition of her great performance at the Olympics.

He also spoke to the Olympian on Saturday to congratulate her.