The Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) have stated that they are likely to suspend former national champion Soumyajit Ghosh and drop him from the country's Commonwealth Games squad after an 18-year-old woman levelled allegations of rape against the paddler.
A complaint has been lodged at the Barasat women's police station in North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal, where the 24-year-old Arjuna awardee has been booked under the IPC sections for rape, criminal conspiracy, causing miscarriage without the woman's consent and cheating, the police said.
Ghosh, who is currently training in Germany, for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, is set to be dropped from the national team, federation secretary MP Singh told PTI today.
"The charges are very serious against Ghosh, who is an important member of the men's squad for the CWG. I have called an executive committee meeting tomorrow. In my opinion, we have no option but to suspend him pending further investigations. Sanil Shetty has been in the reserves and will be his replacement for the Gold Coast Games," said Singh.
The other members of the squad are G Sathiyan, A Sharath Kamal, Anthony Amalraj and Harmeet Desai.
However Indian Olympic Association president Narinder Batra said that in case TTFI drops Ghosh, the CWG federation won't allow any replacement.
"The matter has not reached the IOA yet but as far as I know, the rule states that a replacement would only be allowed if a particular player sustains injury or falls ill," Batra told reporters on the sidelines of an official send-off ceremony of the Games-bound athletes.
(With PTI Inputs)
