The chief coach of  Goa state swimming team, Surajit Ganguly, was sacked on Thursday by the Swimming Federation of India (SFI) after a video and photographs of him allegedly molesting a minor girl surfaced online.

Speaking to IANS, SFI president Digambar Kamat said he had sought a report from the state body about the incident. “We have taken a suo moto step after the video surfaced online. We don’t yet know where the incident took place, but we are trying to find out,” Kamat said.

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Late on Wednesday, filmmaker Vinod Kapri uploaded grabs of the video and tagged Sports Minister Kiren Rijuju, seeking action against the coach.

Rijiju tweeted in response: “A stringent action will be taken through Sports Authority. Firstly, it’s a heinous crime of serious nature so I’ll urge the Police to take stringent penal action against the coach urgently.”

I’ve taken a strong view of the incident. The Goa Swimming Association has terminated the contract of coach Surajit Ganguly. I’m asking the Swimming Federation of India to ensure that this coach is not employed anywhere in India. This applies to all Federations & disciplines. https://t.co/q6H1ixZVsi

— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) September 5, 2019

On Thursday, Rijiju directed the SFI to ensure that the “coach is not employed anywhere in India.”

“I’ve taken a strong view of the incident. The Goa Swimming Association has terminated the contract of coach Surajit Ganguly. I’m asking the Swimming Federation of India to ensure that this coach is not employed anywhere in India. This applies to all Federations and disciplines,” Rijiju tweeted.

Goa’s Director of Sports and Youth Affairs, VM Prabhudessai, also said that Kamat had verbally communicated to him about the termination of the chief coach’s services. “Kamat has just informed me about the decision to terminate the services of the chief coach,” Prabhudessai said.  “We terminated Surajit”s contract immediately after watching the video. Both the girl and coach are from Bengal,” GSA Secretary Syed Abdul Majid was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.  Surajit Ganguly was appointed by the GSA about two and a half years ago for its Mapusa facility.

According to a media report, Surajit Ghosh had won 12 medals in international swimming competitions. He won his first medal at the Asian Swimming Championships in Hong Kong in 1984.

(With inputs from Agency)