A 17-year-old athlete has accused her coach of sexually assaulting her at a hotel in Faridabad, Haryana. The alleged incident is said to have taken place on December 16, 2025.
The Haryana Police registered an FIR on Tuesday following a detailed complaint filed by the athlete’s family. Police confirmed that the shooter was a minor at the time of the incident, and an investigation is currently underway.
The accused coach, Ankush Bhardwaj, a member of India’s shooting coaching setup, has been suspended by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI). A resident of Ambala, Bhardwaj has been booked under Section 6 of the POCSO Act (aggravated sexual assault) and Section 351(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (criminal intimidation).
A 17-year-old athlete has accused her coach, Ankush Bhardwaj, a member of India’s shooting coaching team, of sexually assaulting her at a hotel in Faridabad, #Haryana. The alleged incident is said to have occurred on December 16, 2025.
Read More- https://t.co/WDZzARpaRT… pic.twitter.com/oxH7GoZT4l— The Statesman (@TheStatesmanLtd) January 8, 2026
According to the complaint, the athlete had been training under Bhardwaj since August 2025. The coach allegedly asked her to meet him to review her performance when she was participating in a national-level shooting competition at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range in Tughlakabad, South Delhi.
When she arrived at the hotel, she was initially waiting in the lobby but was allegedly pressured to go to his room, where the assault occurred.
The athlete later informed her mother about the incident. She also alleged that the coach threatened to harm her career if she disclosed the incident to anyone.
Who is Ankush Bhardwaj?
Bhardwaj is a former shooter and had won a gold medal for India in the 50 m pistol event at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune. He later trained at the Jaspal Rana Institute of Shooting and Sports in Dehradun and transitioned into coaching. He also the founder of the Salvo Shooting Range in Mohali, Punjab.
After the 2024 Paris Olympics, he was appointed by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) as one of the 13 national pistol coaches on recommendation of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI)
During his competitive career, Bhardwaj also served a doping ban in 2010 after testing positive for a beta-blocker. He had claimed at the time that the substance was consumed unknowingly as part of medication for a mild headache.