Women's soccer coach courts controversy

BHUBANESWAR: State women's football team coach Sarita Jayanti Behera has landed in trouble following allegation that she had forged a document to renew her passport. The state sports department has started an inquiry into the complaint by Sarita's former landlord Rajen Choudhury and temporarily put on hold the process of according NOC (no-objection certificate) to her for getting the passport.
Choudhury had lodged a complaint on October 1, 2012 with the regional passport office here alleging that Sarita furnished a bogus address proof by faking her father's signature on a house rent agreement on December 7, 2011. He said Sarita's family, who had been staying at his house on rent in Nayapally area since early 2007, had left the house in 2008.
"I came to know about the fraud only in September this year from a friend, who showed me a photo copy of the agreement. Shocked, I lodged a complaint against her in Nayapally police station here on September 25," Choudhury said. "But police have still not given me a copy of the FIR. Police refused to register a case," he added.
Nayapally inspector in-charge Anup Kanungo said police are still verifying the charges against Sarita. "Choudhury gave us a photo copy of the house rent agreement. We cannot make progress until we get the original agreement to substantiate his allegation," Kanungo said. "We had attempted to crosscheck from the passport office whether she furnished any such rent agreement in original. But we have not yet received any correspondence from them," Kanungo said.
Last month, Choudhury drew the attention of the sports department about the forgery. About a week ago, sports director D V Swamy summoned Sarita and Choudhury and heard their versions. But Swamy refused to divulge the details of the meeting. "The inquiry is on. I cannot disclose anything," said Swamy, adding, "For the time being, we (the department) have not cleared NOC for her passport till the probe is over."
While Sarita was immediately not available for comment, her father Kanhu Charan Behera rebuffed the charges. "She did not forge any document, nor did she submit fake address proof in the passport office. Somebody must be trying to falsely implicate her in the case," Behera said.
Significantly, Sarita's appointment as junior coach of the football had courted controversy in May 2012 after another aspirant had accused her of producing fake experience certificate to get the job. Sarita, a veteran soccer player, had refuted the allegation.