CHANDIGARH: An athlete and coach alleged Thursday that former Indian hockey captain and Haryana sports minister Sandeep Singh had “inappropriately touched her, praised her figure and asked her to keep him happy” when she met him at his Chandigarh home in September. Singh dismissed the charges as “absolutely false and baseless”.
The woman made the allegations at a press conference called by Ellenabad MLA and senior Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) politician Abhay Singh Chautala at the party’s office in Chandigarh.
The BJP minister responded with a presser, where he said: “The junior coach was deployed to Jhajjar but she wanted to stay in Panchkula. I had asked her to submit an application to the department and told senior officers to adjust all such players so that their training does not get hampered. There should be an independent probe into this and I am ready for it.”
The athlete said she had been in touch with the minister since June-July and met him for the first time at a technical gym built for international players in Panchkula. Thereafter, according to the woman, Singh contacted her on Instagram, and praised her game and achievements.
“I was happy to be praised by an international player. He later contacted me on Instagram and asked me to talk on Snapchat. He sent his personal ID on Snapchat,” she said.
“In September, he called me to his Chandigarh residence, where he asked me to come to his personal room. He touched me inappropriately, praising my figure and body. He then asked me to keep him happy. I pushed him and rushed out of the house. During this process my T-shirt was torn,” she alleged.
She said she can’t show the chats as Singh communicated on “vanish mode” on Instagram that allows users to send each other disappearing messages and other content.
She said she met the minister again at his office on Wednesday and was told that she had been shifted to Jhajjar. She claimed her career would stall because Jhajjar does not have adequate facilities for a national-level sportsperson.
The athlete said she didn’t go to police or inform other authorities because her colleagues advised her against it. Chautala claimed that the athlete contacted him after everyone turned a deaf ear to her pleas. He demanded the minister’s dismissal and asked CM Manohar Lal Khattar to order a probe.
The INLD legislator said he had called former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda of Congress to take up the matter as the woman is from his area.
The woman made the allegations at a press conference called by Ellenabad MLA and senior Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) politician Abhay Singh Chautala at the party’s office in Chandigarh.
The BJP minister responded with a presser, where he said: “The junior coach was deployed to Jhajjar but she wanted to stay in Panchkula. I had asked her to submit an application to the department and told senior officers to adjust all such players so that their training does not get hampered. There should be an independent probe into this and I am ready for it.”
The athlete said she had been in touch with the minister since June-July and met him for the first time at a technical gym built for international players in Panchkula. Thereafter, according to the woman, Singh contacted her on Instagram, and praised her game and achievements.
“I was happy to be praised by an international player. He later contacted me on Instagram and asked me to talk on Snapchat. He sent his personal ID on Snapchat,” she said.
“In September, he called me to his Chandigarh residence, where he asked me to come to his personal room. He touched me inappropriately, praising my figure and body. He then asked me to keep him happy. I pushed him and rushed out of the house. During this process my T-shirt was torn,” she alleged.
She said she can’t show the chats as Singh communicated on “vanish mode” on Instagram that allows users to send each other disappearing messages and other content.
She said she met the minister again at his office on Wednesday and was told that she had been shifted to Jhajjar. She claimed her career would stall because Jhajjar does not have adequate facilities for a national-level sportsperson.
The athlete said she didn’t go to police or inform other authorities because her colleagues advised her against it. Chautala claimed that the athlete contacted him after everyone turned a deaf ear to her pleas. He demanded the minister’s dismissal and asked CM Manohar Lal Khattar to order a probe.
The INLD legislator said he had called former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda of Congress to take up the matter as the woman is from his area.