Upkeep trouble: Dipa prefers cash to gifted BMW
Agartala, October 12
In the absence of a company service centre in Tripura, trailblazing gymnast Dipa Karmakar has sought to return her BMW car, which was handed over to her by Sachin Tendulkar.
Dipa, along with two other Indian medallists from Rio — badminton star PV Sindhu and wrestler Sakshi Malik — and Sindhu’s coach Pullela Gopichand, received the car in August for her achievement at the Rio Olympics. The car was gifted by the Hyderabad District Badminton Association.
Dipa refuted media reports that she wanted to return the car to association president V Chamundeshwarnath, insisting she preferred cash to the car because of maintenance problems. “There is no BMW showroom or service centre in Tripura. If the car develops a technical snag, how will I get it repaired? The roads aren’t suitable for driving the luxury car in Agartala and other areas of the mountainous state,” said Dipa.
“Sir (her coach Bisheshwar Nandi) discussed the matter with V Chamundeshwarnath. In place of a BMW car, he agreed to deposit an equivalent amount to my bank account. We would be happy with the amount they give for the car,” she said.
Dipa’s father Dulal Karmakar said: “No question arises of returning the gifted BMW in Hyderabad. The main problem is that BMW does not have a showroom here, if the car develops a problem, we will have to fly a mechanic from Kolkata and it will be very expensive. So, I along with my daughter and her coach have asked them if they could instead give the price of the car so that we can buy one that is serviceable here.” — Agencies
