Soumyajit Ghosh hit by rape charge, claims innocence but likely to miss CWG

Soumyajit Ghosh, who is currently training in Germany for the upcoming Commonwealth Games, is set to be dropped from the national team.

New Delhi, March 22: The Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) on Thursday (March 22) said it is 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 on Thursday. "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.

Soumyajit Ghosh denies allegations

Ghosh denied the allegations, saying that the accuser has been blackmailing him after their relationship ended. "Whatever she is saying is false as I haven't done anything wrong, we were together but then I wanted to focus on my career so I told her 'it is very difficult to be with you'," Ghosh said.

Claiming innocence, the paddler said the girl has been blackmailing him for money and the allegations were a ploy to ruin his career. "After I broke things off with her, she started blackmailing me, my family and my friend circle. From the last one and a half year, she has been trying to threaten and blackmail us. I don't know what happened, I think this is part of a plan just before I am to leave for the Commonwealth Games. She is doing this to ruin my career," he said.

Ghosh also stated that he has not got any word from the TTFI on his impending suspension. "I have not got any information about my suspension and will have to talk to the Table Tennis Federation of India," Ghosh said.

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.