Legendary athlete Milkha Singh, a Punjab Congress MLA and a former army officer have been booked by the police in Chandigarh in connection with a brawl between two groups at the Chandigarh Golf Club.
Milkha, MLA Randeep Nabha, and retired Lt Col Vijay Singh Sandhu were booked in cross cases under various sections of the IPC, including causing hurt and intimidation, for the brawl which occurred on Saturday, police said.
Octogenarian Milkha, popularly known as 'Flying Sikh', said he did not know why his name figured in the case as he was trying to intervene and sort out things while Nabha has blamed Sandhu for the trouble.
Narrating the sequence of events that unfolded on Saturday, Milkha said, "Col Sandhu had asked Randeep for a pass to move ahead when the four of us were playing. Randeep and I told him that let us complete and then he may move ahead. He removed our tee, placed his and took a shot.
"Randeep then placed back his tee and told the Colonel to get aside as he may get hurt. However, Sandhu pushed him, hit him with a golf club and told him that take a shot and I will see. This resulted in a scuffle," Milkha told PTI on Monday.
He said former Punjab Chief Secretary R S Mann, along with former captain of the golf course S S Laihal, were also playing in his group while Sandhu was playing with two more persons in another group when the incident occurred.
In the scuffle, Sandhu got hit near his eye and Nabha received injuries. Both were hospitalised and their medical examination was conducted after police arrived on the scene.
Two separate cases had been registered in Sector 26 police station. In one case, Sandhu has alleged that Nabha and Milkha had beaten and threatened him at the Club on Saturday.
In another case, Nabha, MLA from Amloh, has alleged that Sandhu quarrelled and threatened him.
Milkha Singh, whose son Jeev Milkha is a top international golfer, and regularly plays at the Golf Club, termed the incident as unfortunate.
"It is an unfortunate incident. Both me and Mann tried to intervene and calm the things down. However, Sandhu acted in an unprovoked manner, unbecoming of someone from an army background. His allegations against me are totally baseless. He tarnished a gentleman's game like golf," Milkha said.
Mann told PTI that Sandhu "has had tendency to lose temper and has displayed violent behaviour in the past as well...he came to us at the 16th hole over moving ahead. His behaviour was highly provocative and violent".
He said, "Sandhu probably thought if he stands as witnesses in the case, he will be in trouble. That's why he took his name and also blamed me (Mann) so that he can make a strong argument".
Sector 26 police station's SHO, Inspector Anokh Singh said further investigations into the case were under progress. "We have recorded the statements and further investigations were on," he said.