Indian Junior Shooting Coach Reassigned Amid Sexual Harassment Allegations From Athletes at Germany Tournament

A coach employed by the Sports Authority of India is under investigation after junior rifle shooters accused him of sexual harassment during a tournament in Germany this June. SAI has moved him out of the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range in Tughlakabad, New Delhi, while the National Rifle Association of India's Internal Complaints Committee sorts out what happened.

The alleged incident took place during the ISSF Junior World Championships in Suhl, held June 16 to 26, according to Shafaqna India. The range sits near Friedberg Hill on the outskirts of Suhl, and a source told The Times of India the coach allegedly took two shooters on a walk into nearby woods and touched them inappropriately.

Shafaqna India reported that two girls broke down in tears and had to be consoled by other coaches after the alleged incident, and that the episode was documented in a report the coaching staff submitted to the NRAI. That report, along with additional complaints from the young shooters, triggered the NRAI's referral to its internal committee and to SAI headquarters.

A Times of India source went further, alleging the coach tried to get the charges dropped and threatened to ruin the shooters' careers. That specific claim appears only in the Times of India account and has not been independently corroborated elsewhere.

The accusations are not limited to the Germany trip. Shafaqna India reported that a parent of a young shooter first raised concerns with range administrator Nitin Jaiswal back in June, but no formal complaint was filed at that time. The Times of India similarly noted that a parent had lodged an oral complaint after an earlier incident, and, in that source's words, "nothing came of it." Whether these are the same episode or two separate complaints is not entirely clear from either account, but both outlets agree an earlier warning sign existed before the Germany trip and went unpursued.

SAI has not accused the coach of wrongdoing. In a statement provided to The Tribune and cited by Shafaqna India, the agency said: "An intimation was received from the National Rifle Association of India regarding a complaint against a shooting coach at Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range. The matter is sub judice before the NRAI internal complaints committee." SAI added that, as "an administrative measure," the coach was withdrawn from the Delhi range and attached to the Regional Centre, Delhi, pending the inquiry's outcome. That is a reassignment, not a suspension or termination, and SAI has been explicit that the case remains unresolved.

The NRAI's Internal Complaints Committee, an eight-member panel chaired by former Member of Parliament Putul Kumari, held a formal hearing at the NRAI office, according to Shafaqna India, which reported the session was video-recorded and that further proceedings may follow before any decision is reached. The Times of India reported the coach appeared before the committee "earlier this week" and gave his response to the allegations, and that SAI's decision to move him followed the NRAI's report.

The coach has not been publicly named in either account, and no charges, criminal or otherwise, have been filed against him. He has had the opportunity to respond to the allegations before the committee, and the process so far has produced an administrative reassignment, not a finding of guilt. Given that the committee's hearing was only recently held and further proceedings are expected, the current facts amount to allegations under investigation.

The Times of India reported the coach had been with SAI for nearly three years before this case surfaced. Neither source has reported whether India's junior shooting program has broader oversight gaps that let an earlier parental complaint go unaddressed for months before the Germany trip. That remains an open question: why a warning raised with a range administrator months before the alleged Suhl incident produced no formal action until after a second, more serious complaint came out of an international tournament involving minors. The NRAI's Internal Complaints Committee has not announced when it expects to conclude its inquiry.