Indian para swimmer detained in Japan over alleged molestation of hotel worker, PCI official says

India's contingent in Nagoya has two sexual misconduct allegations to answer for, one at the Asian Games and one at the Asian Para Games that opened Sunday, Oct. 18.

Both are allegations. Neither has been tested in a courtroom or a disciplinary hearing that has been made public.

The para swimmer

Para swimmer Mohammad Shams Aalam Shaikh, 40 and once ranked world No. 1 in his event, was detained by Japanese police on Monday, Oct. 19, according to a senior Paralympic Committee of India official who is with the delegation in Nagoya and handled the response. The official spoke to The Times of India.

The allegation, as the official described it, is that Shaikh sexually harassed and molested a female hotel employee. She was reportedly doing housekeeping in his room at the Four Points by Sheraton, where the Indian para swimming team was staying.

The official said the games' local organising committee told the Indian chef-de-mission's office that an incident had occurred and that an Indian athlete was in police custody. When Indian officials reached the hotel, the official said, police and senior hotel managers were already there. They were told the athlete had inappropriately touched the employee.

Shaikh was sent back to India on Tuesday, Oct. 20, a day after the alleged incident.

The official called the alleged conduct "reprehensible and intolerable" and said there could be "no justification" for it from an athlete representing India abroad. "Aalam is staring at no less than a lifetime ban for bringing disrepute to the entire Indian delegation," the official said.

The PCI has not announced a ban. No formal charge has been announced publicly, and Shaikh's own account has not been made public.

The hockey umpire

The Asian Games in Nagoya produced a separate case earlier this month. Hockey umpire and technical official Gurinder Singh Sangha was sent home after complaints of alleged sexual misconduct, according to a Hockey India official who spoke to PTI on Oct. 2.

The official said Sangha allegedly misbehaved with a female hockey official from Malaysia and a hotel staffer. A complaint was filed by the Malaysian official, he said, and Sangha went home roughly two days before the interview.

This is not the first complaint against Sangha. In 2025, during the Hockey India League in Ranchi, a female umpire lodged a complaint against him. Hockey India formed a three-member committee to look into it.

The Hockey India official said that committee "didn't find any substantial evidence." That is the federation's stated outcome, and it stands as a finding of insufficient proof, not a finding of innocence or guilt.

Who is responsible for what

The Asian Hockey Federation appoints umpires and technical officials for hockey at the Asian Games, not India. An Indian Olympic Association official said as much: "IOA and HI have got nothing to do with it, it's AHF who appoints umpires and technical officials in Asian Games."

Hockey India says it is waiting on the AHF. "Definitely, we will take strict action against him if the AHF gives an adverse report. There is no question about it. He will not be spared if he is guilty," the Hockey India official said. AHF officials in Nagoya declined to comment.

The same official noted that earlier this year Hockey India removed a member of the national women's team support staff after harassment allegations were lodged against him.

A smaller team with medals to chase

The Para Games allegation lands on a team already working with less. India is fielding about 168 athletes across 11 disciplines in Aichi-Nagoya, down from 303 in Hangzhou in 2023. Tighter participation quotas and changes to the events on offer account for the cut.

In Hangzhou, India finished fifth with 29 gold, 31 silver and 51 bronze medals, a record 111. It missed fourth place to South Korea by one gold. Para-athletics, which delivered 55 of those medals, has shrunk from 123 competitors to 62.

Sumit Antil, Sheetal Devi, Pramod Bhagat, Nishad Kumar and Preeti Pal are among the athletes expected to carry the medal load this time.

What comes next

Two decisions are pending, and neither sits with the people who first spoke about the cases. The PCI will decide whether to act on its official's warning of a lifetime ban for Shaikh. Hockey India has said it will move against Sangha only if the Asian Hockey Federation delivers an adverse report. The AHF has said nothing publicly.