Ankush Bharadwaj.
Credit: INstagram@ankush597
National shooting coach Ankush Bharadwaj has been suspended from the duty after he was booked by Haryana Police for allegedly sexually assaulting a 17-year-old national-level female shooter at a hotel in Faridabad.
An FIR was registered on Tuesday, while an investigation has been launched. Bhardwaj, a resident of Mohali, has been booked under Section 6 of POCSO Act (aggravated sexual assault), and Section 351(2) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (criminal intimidation).
According to the FIR, the incident took place during a national-level shooting competition at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi. The complaint states that Bharadwaj assaulted the shooter in a hotel room after inviting her under the pretext of evaluating her performance.
"The coach asked me to come to the elevator area. After that, when I went to the elevator area, coach sir told me that he had booked a room here, so come to my room. I will discuss the match with you there.
"He took me to a room on the third floor, and discussed the match. After sometime, I said to sir that I wanted to go home, but he told me that he would crack my back," she said, referring to a physiotherapy technique of post-competition recovery.
"I immediately refused. Then sir forcibly made me lie face down and sexually assaulted me and when I opposed, he threatened me," the victim stated in the FIR as quoted by PTI.
The FIR alleged that the coach threatened to ruin her career and harm her family if the incident was made public.
The athlete is said have left the hotel in shock and later informed the family about the incident, following which the family lodged a complaint with the police.
"Looking at the seriousness of the case, we have already asked the hotel administration to share all the CCTV camera footage of the day of the incident immediately to corroborate the allegations of the minor girl," NDTV quoted Yashpal Yadav, Public Relations Officer of Faridabad police.
Bharadwaj is among the 13 national pistol coaches appointed by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).
"NRAI has suspended him and we will issue a show-cause notice," NRAI secretary Rajiv Bhatia told PTI.
"He has been suspended on moral grounds. Now, he has to prove himself innocent. Till the inquiry is not completed, he will not be associated with any coaching activity," he added.