After Winning fourth place in Gymnastics at the Rio Olympics in August 2016, Dipa Karmakar got a present from Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar. The cricketer presented a BMW car to her along with P V Sindhu and Sakshi Malik.

However, according to sources "Dipa Karmakar has returned the car as she will not be able to maintain it. It was reported that the maintenance costs for such a luxury vehicle are very high and it is believed that Dipa does not want to bear the cost of it. Further, as she hails from Agartala, she believes that it is not a car that can be used by her or her family members as it would prove to be a nuisance on the rather small roads."

“Some news reports are saying we are returning the car. It’s not true. We just want to replace it with another one as it difficult to drive and maintain such a vehicle in Agartala,” Dipa’s father Dulal Karmakar told HT.

“Roads in Tripura are not good enough to drive such a vehicle. There are no capable drivers in Agartala town to drive a BMW and the company has no showroom or service centre in the state,” he said.

Karmakar said "the family is talking with BMW and Badminton Association of Hyderabad officials to replace the BMW. He added they are yet to decide on the brand and car they will buy, but the choice will be limited to auto companies that have showroom and service centres in the gymnast’s hometown."

“We have asked them to give us an amount equivalent to the price of the BMW car so that we can choose and purchase one in Agartala. They have agreed to do that and we expect the money soon,” he said.

“If we were living in a metropolitan city like Kolkata or Mumbai, we would have been able to use the BMW. But it is not possible in Agartala.”

Dipa wasn’t available to comment as she was busy training for the Challenger’s Cup in Germany next month.

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BY M.DIVYA SRI