The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) treasurer and Uttar Pradesh Olympic Association secretary, Anandeshwar Pandey blamed veteran sports administrator Narinder Batra for the recent sexual assault allegations against him, calling it “dirty politics”.
A 28-year-old national-level handball player on Sunday filed an FIR against Anandeshwar Pandey for Allegedly Sexually Assaulting her.
A criminal case was lodged against Pandey under Sections 376, 506 and 511 of the Indian Penal Code regarding an incident from March 2022.
The player, who has played for the Uttar Pradesh state team, said in the FIR that Pandey had 'destroyed lives' of many handball players like her using his clout.
The FIR alleges that Pandey called the player to his office and told her he would make her an international player if she agreed to have a sexual relationship with him for two years. On resisting his advances, Pandey allegedly tried to force himself on her.
Pandey categorically denied the allegations and said if any of it is proved he would resign from the posts immediately.
“The handball player has mentioned one thing in the letter to the PM [Narendra Modi] while she has mentioned a different version in the FIR,” Pandey told the Free Press Journal.
“According to the FIR this incident is from March. That time, she thanked me for getting selected. She was training under me for two years. She was constantly chatting with me. I have all her chats. If I was Sexually Assaulting her, why was she chatting with me? If she had an issue with me, why did she come to my room?” Pandey questioned.
“This has been done by Narinder Batra. He is playing dirty politics. He has been ruining Indian sports with his dirty politics. If the allegations are proved that I have done wrong to that player, I will resign with immediate effect from all the posts,” Pandey added.
Pictures surfaced online
Earlier, a series of pictures purportedly showing Pandey in a compromising position with women had caused a storm in the Indian sports fraternity and on social media.
Pandey filed a complaint with the Lucknow Police cyber cell, claiming that the allegations against him were part of a conspiracy.
When asked about the pictures, Pandey claimed them to be morphed.
“All the pictures are morphed. These pictures are in circulation for the last two years. Whenever there are IOA elections, these pictures are circulated. If these pictures were real, then the girls would have come and filed a complaint against me. Everyone can see that the pictures are morphed,” he said.
Complaint filed against IOA treasurer Anandeshwar Pandey for allegedly sexually assaulting handball player
