NEW DELHI, May 18: Australian cricketer Luke Pomersbach has been arrested on molestation and assault charges, a senior Delhi Police official said on Friday.

The 27-year-old was alleged to have molested a woman and physically attacked her male friend in a city hotel during a party after Pomersbach’s Royal Challengers Bangalore had beaten Delhi Daredevils in an IPL game on Thursday.

“A case has been registered... Luke is in custody and will be produced in the court,” Additional Commissioner of Police K.C. Dwivedi told the CNN-IBN television channel.

“The lady complained he molested her and after he left the room, he came back again and tried to force his entry into the room,” he added.

The alleged victim told the Times Now news channel that Pomersbach had “tagged along” with her and her Mumbai-based fiance and had suddenly grabbed her while they drank together in their hotel room.

“My fiance said, ‘hey listen, you shouldn’t treat any girl like that. Why don’t you just leave?’. When he said that, he [Pomersbach] turned around and started hitting him. He hit him so many times, punched him on his face, that his ear, he got injured in his ear.”

Pomersbach was granted an interim bail by a city court. “My client is denying the charges against him,” Pomersbach’s lawyer Ajay Bhargava told AFP. “We have received interim bail and my client has to appear in court tomorrow.”

The woman and her friend are undergoing treatment in a city hospital.

Attended by celebrities from the world of cricket and show business, IPL post-match parties have drawn criticism but league chairman Rajeev Shukla said the body no longer has anything to do with the events.

“The IPL is not hosting any party. We have done away with this concept of hosting parties,” Shukla said. “Let the law take its course and police decide, it’s about the behaviour of an individual player,” he added.—Agencies