Sex abuse plaint: Coach statement recorded for 9 hours

CHANDIGARH: The SIT constituted by Chandigarh police to probe the sexual harassment allegations levelled by a junior coach-athlete of Haryana sports department against Haryana minister and former hockey player Sandeep Singh on Tuesday recorded the statements of the complainant and a senior Haryana Civil Services (HCS) officer posted with the state sports department for a short period.
Sources in the police department said that some junior hockey players and officials of the sports department would also be summoned by the SIT for further investigation in the coming days.
The woman player had alleged that the minister had "inappropriately touched her, praised her figure and asked her to keep him happy".
The police recorded the coach-athlete’s statement at the Sector 26 police station for 9 hours. She reached the police station at around 11 am and left at 8 pm. Her advocate, Deepanshu, pointed out that while the complainant had appeared before the SIT for the fourth time and given her statement, the police had not summoned the accused even once so far.
Chandigarh police have also seized the mobile phone of the complainant. Her advocate also alleged that Haryana police are trying to impact the investigation and allegedly visit the house of the complainant 3-4 times every day since she had made allegations against the former sports minister.
Demanding immediate arrest of Sandeep Singh, the woman-athlete alleged that the investigation cannot be transparent until the minister resigns from all posts.
She also told the police that she had been getting threats and had even been offered Rs 1 crore to leave the country. The woman coach had submitted a complaint to the Chandigarh police on Friday and an FIR was registered the following day. A day later, Chandigarh police had formed a SIT headed by Palak Goel, DSP south