STRONG ARM: Top Bodybuilder Shot While Protesting Arrested By Iranian Cops

A bodybuilding champion has been injured and arrested for taking part in an anti-government rally where he was shot.

Reza Olfati poses in an undated photo. The Kurdish bodybuilding champion was arrested in the western Kermanshah province in Iran Sunday, Oct. 30, 2022, after security forces stormed the house where he was staying. (@mohamadreza_olfati___/Newsflash)

Kurdish bodybuilder Reza Olfati was reportedly arrested in the western Kermanshah province when dozens of security agents raided the house where he was visiting a friend on 30th October.

Olfati had won several regional championships and was also part of the national team where he was ranked fourth.

He was reportedly injured after being shot almost a month ago during a demonstration in the provincial capital Kermanshah.

Reza Olfati poses with his mother in an undated photo. The Kurdish bodybuilding champion was arrested in the western Kermanshah province in Iran Sunday, Oct. 30, 2022, after security forces stormed the house where he was staying. (@mohamadreza_olfati___/Newsflash)

It’s believed police had initially searched for him at his home in Kermanshah but after his injury, he was staying with his father in Gilangreb, but he later moved back to his hometown town where he was arrested at the home of a friend.

He is apparently being held in the offices of the Kermanshah Security Services.

Iranian forces have been cracking down on waves of civil disorder following the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, from Saqqez, Kurdistan Province, who was on a visit to Tehran when she was arrested by morality police, accused of violating hijab rules on 13th September.

Reza Olfati poses in an undated photo. The Kurdish bodybuilding champion was arrested in the western Kermanshah province in Iran Sunday, Oct. 30, 2022, after security forces stormed the house where he was staying. (@mohamadreza_olfati___/Newsflash)

She was allegedly beaten while in custody and spent the following days in a coma in the hospital before succumbing in the ICU on 16th September.

Numbers differ regarding how many people have been killed since the protests began.

The ongoing protests have so far claimed the lives of at least 336 people and injured at least 1,160, according to independent estimates.

It is understood that over 12,500 people have so far been arrested.