Who Is Ankush Bharadwaj: National Shooting Coach Accused Of Sexual Assault By 17-Year-Old Athlete
National shooting coach Ankush Bharadwaj was suspended by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) following sexual assault allegations by a 17-year-old athlete.
National shooting coach Ankush Bharadwaj was suspended by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) following sexual assault allegations by a 17-year-old athlete. The national level female shooter alleged that she was sexually assaulted by Bharadwaj at a hotel in Surajkund, Faridabad. He was booked by the Haryana Police following an official complaint by the victim's family. According to the FIR, the incident took place during the shooting nationals at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi. The NRAI suspended him from all duties following the sexual assault allegations.
Who is Ankush Bharadwaj?
Bharadwaj hails from Ambala and started his shooting journey from a NCC (National Cadet Corps) camp in 2005. He went to the Jaspal Rana Institute of Shooting and Sports in Dehradun in order to hone his skills and was coach by Jaspal's younger brother Subhash Rana.
He won three gold medals at the All-India GV Mavalankar Shooting competition, held in Agra in 2007. He went on to win the 50m pistol gold at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune in 2008.
He kept winning medals at the international stage before he was banned by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) for testing positive for Beta Blocker in 2010. He tested positive for the substance generally used to steady the arm by controlling the heartbeat during a junior competition in Suhl, Germany.
He made his comeback in 2012 and helped India win gold in the 25m centre-fire pistol team event in the International Shooting Competition of Hannover in 2016.
Bharadwaj is currently a national pistol coach and he also runs the Salvo Shooting Range in Mohali. He provides private coaching to selected shooters. He is married to Anjum Moudgil, a two-time Olympian participant in shooting.
He has been accused of sexual assault by the 17-year-old national shooter and her mother alleged that another female shooter also experienced similar behaviour.