Bhubaneswar: Two days after his return from Mumbai at the end of a month-long 'vacation', wonder boy Budhia Singh today made it abundantly clear that he is not going back to the State-run sports hostel here where he had been staying since being separated from his coach and mentor Biranchi Das nine years ago.
In a written communication to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Budhia said he doesn’t want to return to the sports hostel as it lacks basic infrastructure and facilities for training.
On their return from Mumbai on Wednesday, Budhia's mother Sukanti Singh, who accompanied her son to the CWC today, had already said her son would not return to the sports hostel while Budhia himself had remained non-committal saying "I will take a call on it after talking to my mother and others."
Earlier in the day, the Commissionerate Police recorded his statement under Section 164 of CrPC at the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) court here.
On Thursday, the police had recorded the statements of both Budhia and Sukanti under Section 161 of CrPC, which was necessitated after the CWC’s filed an FIR that Budhia had been kidnapped.
A day after returning from Mumbai, Budhia on Thursday had said that he would prove his prowess if given better training and facilities. He also slammed the sports hostel authorities over lack of proper care and sought help for better training outside.
"I feel like I am in a jail. There is no proper training for me. I don't want to return to the sports hostel," he had said yesterday.
The child prodigy had also alleged that he was being given training for 100 and 200 metre races while he was interested in long-distance running.
His mother had said that she would prefer to send Budhia to a private place where he would get proper training and facilities.
Budhia had got into the Limca Book of Records as the world's youngest marathoner after running 65 km between Puri and Bhubaneswar non-stop in 2006 at the age of just four. He was admitted to the sports hostel in 2007 for better training after the CWC and sate government decided that he was too young to run marathons.
A film on Budhia (Budhia Singh-Born To Run) is all set to hit screens across the country on August 5.