Who is Bula Choudhury, the athlete who had over 150 medals stolen from her home?
B
ula Choudhury, one of India's celebrated swimmers and a Padma Shri recipient, has been left devastated after thieves looted her ancestral home in Hindmotor, Hooghly district.
The 54-year-old, popularly known as the 'Queen of Seas,' is a former SAF Games champion who also famously crossed the English Channel twice, in 1989 and 1999. She now resides in Kolkata's Kasba area.
Choudhury's career was decorated with remarkable achievements. Born in 1970, she first made her mark as a nine-year-old at the 1979 national swimming competition, dominating her age group.
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She went on to win multiple gold medals at the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games, with four in Kathmandu in 1984 and six in Colombo in 1991.
In recognition of her achievements, she was honoured with the Arjuna Award in 1990 and the Padma Shri in 2009.
The glory of her long career now feels diminished after a break-in at her Hindmotor residence. Thieves stole more than 150 medals and mementos, including her Padma Shri brooch and 10 SAF Games gold medals, along with household fittings such as taps and washbasins.
'They took away things that are of no value to them but invaluable to me.
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From 1979, when I started competing as a nine-year-old, till I retired in 1995, all that I earned were medals. They are all gone,' Choudhury told TOI.
The theft came to light on Independence Day when her brother Dolan arrived to clean the property and found the back gate broken, the lock pried open, and the rooms ransacked. 'All the medals from the drawing room glass cabinet are missing. The basins in the bathrooms had been smashed and the taps removed.
Even the stop cocks in the cisterns are missing,' he told TOI.
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Police said this was the third such incident at the house, which remains unoccupied most of the time. Similar thefts in 2014 saw jewellery, mementos and electronics stolen. TOI earlier reported that Chandernagore deputy commissioner of police Arnab Biswas confirmed that five suspects have been picked up for questioning, while forensic teams are examining the site.
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