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Supreme Court rejects anticipatory bail plea of shooting coach Ankush Bhardwaj in Pocso case
Ankush Bhardwaj had challenged the March 17 order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court denying him relief.
Ankush Bhardwaj is accused of aggravated sexual assault of the girl he was training, as well as criminal intimidation. (File Photo)
The Supreme Court Wednesday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of shooting coach Ankush Bhardwaj, facing charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act in connection with the alleged sexual assault of a minor girl at a Faridabad hotel.
A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan dismissed his plea, which challenged the March 17 order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court denying him relief. Bhardwaj had approached the high court after a designated Pocso court in Faridabad dismissed his pre-arrest bail plea on January 22.
Bhardwaj is accused of aggravated penetrative sexual assault of the girl he was training, as well as criminal intimidation. The incident allegedly occurred in mid-December 2025.
The First Information Report (FIR) was registered on January 6 under Section 6 of the Pocso Act, which pertains to aggravated penetrative sexual assault, and Section 351(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS), which pertains to criminal intimidation.
The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) suspended Bhardwaj in January after the Faridabad police lodged an FIR against him.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
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