LM NEWS 24

Sandeep Case: Haryana Woman Coach Claims Offered Rs 1Cr To Leave Country

By LokMarg 3rd January 2023

The woman coach, who alleged sexual harassment by Haryana Sports Minister Sandeep Singh, on Tuesday claimed that she is receiving phone calls asking her to leave the country for which she has been offered Rs 1 crore.

She claimed that Haryana Police is putting pressure on her.
Her remarks came while speaking to the media after she appeared before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Chandigarh Police.

“I have told everything in detail to the Chandigarh Police SIT. I also told the pending issues to the SIT. I heard the Chief Minister’s statement this morning, in which the Chief Minister himself is taking the side of Sandeep Singh. Chandigarh Police did not put any pressure on me. Haryana Police is trying to put pressure on me,” she claimed.

“I’m receiving phone calls that I can leave and go to any country I want and I would get Rs 1 crore for a month,” she added.

The coach’s advocate Dipanshu Bansal alleged that the Chandigarh Police has not arrested the former minister, nor have the police interrogated him.

“This whole matter was of Chandigarh. Chandigarh Police had given notice under Section 160 after which we reached the police station to record the statement. There was interrogation for 8 hours. Whatever records were with my client were presented before the police. We have submitted the phone to the police. The police have neither interrogated Sandeep Singh nor arrested him. We have talked to the SIT in charge regarding the interrogation of Sandeep Singh. We have given the police two three days’ time to arrest the minister,” he said.

“Non-bailable sections have been imposed on Sandeep Singh, still why are the police not arresting him? The victim’s phone has also been seized by the police,” the advocate said.

Representatives from Dhankhar Khap along with the father of the woman coach, who accused sports minister Sandeep Singh of sexual harassment, met Haryana Home minister Anil Vij in Ambala today.

Earlier, the woman, who is a junior athlete coach, held a press conference at the office of the opposition Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), wherein she alleged that the minister harassed her from February to November last year, by repeated messages in social media and had touched her inappropriately and also threatened her in messages.

During the press briefing, the woman demanded that the Manohar Lal Khattar government in Haryana immediately sack Sandeep Singh and set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter.

Notably, on Sunday, the woman told ANI that she opened up about the incident to the public after her she lost patience.

“I am also a player, think how much patience I would have to tolerate such ill behaviour of this person from February till now,” the woman said, adding that she didn’t open up about the incident earlier as she was afraid of negative impact on the sports industry.

“I tried as much as I could. He created such an atmosphere officially that a girl comes to him automatically,” she added.

The woman reiterated that she opened up to the public only after her patience broke.

Hours after sexual harassment allegations were leveled against him, Haryana Sports Minister Sandeep Singh on Sunday said that he has handed over the responsibility of the Sports department to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar until the report of the investigation is out. (ANI)