Not only that, the wrestler in his entire `playing' career has never won a medal at the international or even at the national level. Despite this, the `blue-eyed boy' of the WFI has been given preference over a dozen of other wrestlers who have actually brought laurels to the country.

The Department of Sports and Youth Affairs, Ministry of HRD, every year confers the outstanding sportspersons with the Arjuna Award. The winners are chosen after considering recommendations from the federations. But for the last few years, the judgment of the jury has come under severe crticism as most of them are felt to be `undeserving'.

The story comes back to WFI which has found only one wrestler deserving. Interestingly, the recommendation letter and the bio-data of Jai Prakash sent to the ministry by the president of the WFI, GS Mandel, does not mention a single word about the achievements of the wrestler at either national or international or even state level. The bio-data repeatedly says that Jai Prakash is a talented wrestler and has been doing well at the international and national levels, without actually naming any tournaments or championships participated.

Jai Prakash was arrested by Delhi Police under IPC code 120-B for assisting the main accused in the Tandoor case. He was accused for protecting the main accused and was also charged with tampering the evidence. The court had sent him to jail but Jai Prakash is at the moment out on bail.

The recommendation by WFI has been strongly criticised by the wrestling fraternity. According to former international wrestler Ashok Kumar, there are more than a dozen talented wrestlers suited for the award. ``But the federation has preferred a man who has never won even a bronze,'' he said. A talented wrestler himself, Ashok Kumar has won three gold and three silver medal at the international level. He has also won gold medals in the 47 and 57 kg categories in the Commonwealth Games (Canada), pre-Commonwealth Games (Australia) and Kayad-e-Azam (Pakistan). The Minister of State for Sports, Uma Bharti has sought more details on the issue and has asked for the file.