National shooting coach Ankush Bharadwaj, who has been accused of sexual harassment by a minor shooter, has been suspended by the National Rifles Association of India (NRAI).
A 17-year-old national-level shooter, who had been training with Bhardwaj since August 2025, accused her coach of sexually assaulting her at a hotel in Faridabad. He allegedly pressured her to meet him at his hotel in December 2025 to review her performance at an ongoing competition.
"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," NRAI secretary Rajiv Bhatia told PTI.
Sharing her ordeal, the minor alleged that Bharadwaj sexually assaulted her after calling her to a five-star hotel on the pretext of analysis. When she resisted, her coach allegedly warned that he would ruin her career if she revealed anything.
According to the FIR, the incident took place on December 16 after the girl participated in a national-level shooting competition at Dr Karni Singh Shooting Ranges in south Delhi's Tughlakabad.
A former pistol shooter, Bharadwaj had served a doping ban in 2010 for the use of a beta-blocker during his competitive days.
In her complaint, the teen told the cops that she has been training as a shooter since 2017 and started training under Bharadwaj last year. For her events, the girl visited several cities and was in Delhi on December 16 last year for a competition. As she was preparing to leave the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Ranges after her game, Bharadwaj asked her to wait at the range so that they could discuss her 'performance'.
She was waiting in the Faridabad hotel lobby when her coach called her to his room. The teen shooter, as per the complaint, was sitting on a chair when Bharadwaj offered to 'crack her back'. When she refused, he allegedly forced her to the bed and sexually assaulted her.
When the girl pushed him back, the coach threatened to destroy her career. After forcing himself on her, he also dropped her home.
"I was scared, and I did not say anything to anyone ... Ankush Bharadwaj sir complained to my parents that I don't listen to him. My mother scolded me, and I could not sleep at night. When my mother asked me why I was stressed, I told her everything, and she brought me to the police station," NDTV said in its report quoting the girl.
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