Anand faces heat over unregistered JOA

Jharkhand Olympic Association (JOA) president R K Anand has been forced to answer some tough questions after an FIR was lodged on June 27 at the Lalpur police station in Ranchi. The FIR lodged by Bamshankar Prasad of the Dhanbad District Badminton Association has alleged that the JOA had been receiving funds in lakhs every year since 2001 in spite of not being a registered body. This was confirmed by Director (Sports) P C Mishra. When asked how the state government granted funds to the unregistered JOA, Mishra said, “We are inquiring into it.” Anand claimed that the JOA was an affiliate of the Indian Olympic Association, a registered body and as such it was not necessary for the JOA to get registered. “The allegations are motivated and baseless,” he said.