Ex-Andaman chief secretary Jitendra Narain arrested in gang-rape case

The police on Thursday arrested former Andaman and Nicobar chief secretary Jitendra Narain in a gang rape case filed by a 21yearold woman against him and othersThe victims lawyer Phatick Chandra Das said Narain was arrested after his anticipatory bail application was rejected by a local courtSoon after the verdict a team of policemen reached a private resort where Narain is staying and took him to the Police Line amid heavy securityAfter his arrest the police took the senior IAS officer from there to a hospital for a checkupA special investigation team SIT questioned Narain thrice in connection with the caseThe SIT was constituted to probe allegations that the 21yearold woman in Andaman and Nicobar Islands was lured to the chief secretarys home by promising a government job and then raped by top officials including Narain thereThe Supreme Court had on Monday asked the former chief secretary of the Union territory to move the trial court for anticipatory bail and directed that the matter be decided by November 11Also read Tamil Nadu 5 killed in blast in fireworks unit Stalin announces solatiumSeeking anticipatory bail for Narain his counsel DC Kabir submitted that Narin was cooperating with the investigation and should be granted the reliefDistrict and Sessions Judge Subhashis Kumar Kar wondered on what ground he should get it as the prearrest bail plea of two other accused in the case were rejected earlier according to the victims lawyer Phatick Chandra DasThe judge was referring to Labour Commissioner R L Rishi and businessman Sandeep Singh alias Rinku Rishi was also accused of raping the woman while Singhs name was mentioned in the FIR as an accomplice in the crimeAs Narain was the chief secretary of the islands for a considerable period and his power and position cannot be equated with a man of common strata the judge said the need of custodial interrogation of the present petitioner cannot be ruled out for the interest of the proper and impartial investigation the order readThe FIR was registered on October 1 when Narain was posted as the chairman and managing director of the Delhi Financial Corporation The government suspended him on October 17 with immediate effectThe woman claimed in the FIR that as her father and stepmother did not take care of her financial needs she needed a job and was introduced by some people to the labour commissioner as he was close to the then chief secretaryShe also claimed that the chief secretary appointed 7800 candidates in various departments in the administration of the islands on the basis of recommendation only and without any formal interviewThe woman alleged that she was lured to the chief secretarys home with the promise of a government job and then raped there on April 14 and May 1This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever