Punjab Governor Kataria, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Cabinet Minister Mohinder Bhagat, Congress MLAs Pargat Singh, Rana Gurjeet Singh, Sukhwinder Singh Kotli, Hardev Singh Ladi Sherowalia, senior Shiromani Akali Dal leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema, Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Aggarwal, and Jalandhar Range DIG Naveen Singla placed wreaths at the pyre.Kataria recalled how Fauja Singh walked with him during a Nasha Mukt Yatra, an anti-drug campaign, last year. He said that after walking for one kilometre, he asked him to stop, but to his surprise, Fauja Singh insisted that they continue walking.Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, who laid a wreath on Singh’s body, expressed profound grief and sorrow over the demise of the international marathoner.He said that the sports fraternity would forever remain indebted to the late Singh for his enormous contribution to taking athletics to new heights by defying his age on the international stage.Mann said that the void created by the death of this legendary athlete is difficult to fill in the near future. Recognising his immense contribution, the state government will rename the school in his village after him, besides installing his statues at the village stadium and the Sports College in Jalandhar.Singh’s career as a marathon runner began when he was 89. He went on to become a global icon, gaining the nickname “Turbaned Tornado” for his endurance and athleticism.
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