THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The three year old tale of alleged misconduct by kabaddi coach J Udayakumar with a girl team member aboard a train which finally led to his expulsion, has taken an unexpected turn.
Sharmi Ulahannan, the international kabaddi player with whom Udayakumar was linked, has come out with an absolute rebuttal of the entire case. Sharmi has already approached Kerala State Sports Council president Padmini Thomas saying that the allegations against Udayakumar were concocted and that the inquiry commission had never taken her statement.
It was in 2008 that Udayakumar was removed from the duties of dailypaid kabaddi coach on charges of alleged misconduct with Sharmi. The inquiry commission had found, on the basis of a complaint, that Udayakumar and Sharmi had been involved in immoral affairs inside the train while returning with the kabaddi team after a tournament. Udayakumar was the coach of the national team which won Asian Games gold medal twice.
However, last week, Sharmi gave a written statement to Express saying that the case against Udayakumar was fabricated. She said that during that train journey, she had lost her purse in the train and when she suspected a few commuters, Udayakumar naturally intervened. The matter was over right there and was not pursued further. When allegations flared up against Udayakumar, Sharmi met T P Dasan, former Sports Council president, and narrated to him the whole incident. "I told him that it was just a case of theft and that all the allegations were untrue. But I was asked not to intervene in the matter and that the inquiry commission will do the rest. The commission has never sought my version,'' she said.
Sharmi's revelations also bolster the contents of the letter submitted by the State Sports and Youth Affairs Department to Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on the same issue. Udayakumar had been shortlisted for 'Dronacharya' award when the allegations had popped up and the Central Government had asked the state to prepare a verification letter.
The letter points out the procedural irregularities and substantive infirmities in the inquiry report filed by the Sports Council.
The letter says that the incongruity of the whole case lies in the fact that it was based on an anonymous letter and lashes out at the inquiry officer for having not taken an earnest effort in verifying the contents of the letter. It clearly says that just because Udayakumar was with Sharmi for some time after her purse was lost, it cannot be taken as a conclusive evidence of misconduct. The letter ends requesting the Sports Council to exonerate Udayakumar from the charges.
The Sports Council, however, ruled out the request saying that Udayakumar's explanation was unsatisfactory and upheld his expulsion.
Meanwhile, the expelled coach who has been jobless for the last three years has not even received a relieving letter from the Sports Council.