CBI files FIR against athlete Sachin Poswal for forging IDs to evade dope ban

After opening a preliminary enquiry against him in November, the central agency has filed an FIR on Friday under the three sections acting on the complaint by Inspector Jitendra Kumar. (Representative image)

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed an FIR against athlete Sachin Poswal, who deceived the Athletics Federation of India by generating different unique athlete IDs using fake Aadhaar cards and false credentials to evade a four-year doping ban imposed on him.

“A complaint of Sh. Jitendra Kumar, Inspector has been received wherein it is alleged that an athlete Mr. Sachin Poswal deceived Athletics Federation of India by generating different UIDs on the strength of fake / forged Aadhar Cards and false credentials. Based on these UIDs, Mr. Sachin Poswal participated in various sports events of athletics. Therefore, a Regular Case u/s 318, 336 and 340 of BNS, 2023 is registered against Mr. Sachin Poswal,” the FIR mentioned.

“If CBI will ask us anything, we will help them throughout the investigation. It is a straightforward case of forgery where this athlete was trying to create new unique IDs using the forged documents,” AFI President Bahadur Singh Sagoo told this newspaper.

Sachin was first suspended by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) for violating Anti-doping rules. He was banned from January 31, 2024 for four years after the Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel rejected his appeal to revoke the provisional suspension by NADA.

Despite being suspended for four years, Sachin successfully managed to generate three different UIDs (Identification numbers issued by AFI to recognize athletes) and participated in three different competitions.

“This athlete had created two or three unique IDs using forged documents. When we came to know about him, we did an inquiry and asked AFI to block his UIDs. He changed his names multiple times using aliases such as Sachin Gujjar and Rachin Gujjar but was eventually found out,” a Delhi State Athletics official told The Indian Express on condition of anonymity.

According to AFI, he first participated in a Delhi state meet in June 2024 even though he was suspended by NADA. After that he changed his name to Sachin Gujjar and participated in the Delhi cross-country championship where he finished third in the U-20 eight-kilometres run in December 2024. For a third time, he changed his name to Rachin Gujjar and participated in the U20 Federation Cup, Allahabad in June 2025. After the incident, AFI filed a complaint in Naraina Police Station.