Child marathon runner Budhia Singh's former coach Biranchi Das was shot dead in Bhubaneshwar on Sunday. Das had been arrested and jailed for nearly a week in August 2007 on charges of physically torturing the minor boy. Further details are awaited.
Gemma Atwal tells Aseem Chhabra about Budhia, the protagonist of her film Marathon Boy.
A fast track court on Friday sentenced gangster Sandeep Acharya alias Raja and his associate to rigorous life imprisonment for killing judo coach Biranchi Das, who had groomed the world's youngest marathon runner Budhia Singh. Four days after convicting the duo for gunning down the judo coach on April 13, 2008, Fast Track Court judge Vivekananda Das on Friday morning pronounced the life term for Raja and Akshya Behera alias Chagala.
Manoj Bajpayee chats about the children in his life now -- (daughter) Ava Nayla off screen, and Budhia Singh on screen.
Budhia's mother accused the boy's former trainer of embezzling a huge amount collected for her son's welfare.
A day after his arrest in Panaji, the Orissa police on Tuesday took into custody Raja Acharya, the prime accused in the murder of Biranchi Das, the coach of child marathon runner Budhia. The alleged gangster was produced before the local court and transit remand was attained. The accused is a noted criminal with more than 30 cases of extortion, murder and robbery against him.
Acharya walked into the Panaji police station at 2.30 pm and surrendered before the state police, who were unaware about his presence in Goa till then. Sources said that the Orissa police had tracked down his whereabouts on the basis of the mobile number which he was using. The signals indicated that Acharya was somewhere in north Goa.
Chagala, the contract killer accused in the murder of Budhia's coach Biranchi Das, was picked up for interrogation after reaching Bhubaneswar on Thursday. He was arrested by the Bhopal police while appearing on a live interview with a private TV channel on April 22
The kid's mother has not filed a complaint and the officials have also not taken any action.
Mishra said the ban had been imposed on Budhia's participation in the programme as he had been found medically unsuitable for undertaking such long-distance run or walk.
The government alleges that Budhia's coach Biranchi Das is exploiting the boy.\n\n
Budhia Singh traversed the distance from the Jagannath temple at Puri to Bhubaneswar in over seven hours.
'I have never got special treatment. My school and hostel was free for everyone, not just me. The training that I get in school is given to everyone, not just me. I want to be a sportsperson and go to the Olympics. I want to represent India there. But I am not training now.' India's youngest marathon runner Budhia Singh looks back at his success.
Budhia Singh: Born To Run is not so much a film as it is a passionate appeal to remind and regain an opportunity for Odisha's erstwhile Wonder Boy, now a forgotten teenager, writes Sukanya Verma.
As we celebrate the spirit of childhood, here are some children who've made India proud.
'To be complimented for a fantastic performance after just viewing the trailer! This never happened to me before.' 'If you have given a party a mandate for five years, stop blaming it for everything under the sun.' 'My kind of films do not make stars. Now we, the actors, after years of struggle, have created a parallel industry where we have made a name for ourselves. But stars we are not nor can we be.' 'For a boy coming from a remote village of Bihar at the Indo-Nepal border where no transport was available to commute to the nearest town, even coming to Delhi and then Mumbai and finally watching himself on the silver screen was a huge thing!'
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