NRAI suspends national coach after minor accuses him of sexual harassment

NEW DELHI: Ankush Bhardwaj, a member of India’s shooting coaching staff, has been accused of sexual harassment by a minor shooter, prompting the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) to suspend him, news agency PTI reported. The NRAI confirmed that an FIR has been filed against Bhardwaj in Faridabad. “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. Bhatia said Bhardwaj had been recommended by the NRAI for a place in the 37-strong coaching team after the Paris Olympics in 2024. “It was on the recommendation of the NRAI that he was appointed by SAI as one of the coaches. It is a case of sexual harassment which happened in Surajkund,” said Bhatia. The secretary did not specify when the incident took place. However, according to the FIR filed by the victim, she was targeted last month after a training session at the Karni Singh Range. The girl, who has been training with Bhardwaj since August last year, stated that she was left traumatised by the incident and spoke up in front of her mother on January 1 after being persistently probed. Bhardwaj, a former pistol shooter, had previously served a doping ban in 2010 for the use of a beta-blocker during his competitive days.