Tamil Nadu: Chargesheet filed against former DGP in sexual harassment case
A woman police officer has accused Rajesh Das of behaving inappropriately in his vehicle on February 22.
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The Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department of the Tamil Nadu police on Thursday filed a chargesheet in the sexual harassment case against suspended Special Director General of Police (Law and Order) Rajesh Das, reported the Hindustan Times.
The complainant, a woman police officer, accused Das of behaving inappropriately with her in his vehicle on February 22. The incident reportedly took place while the woman was on duty during former Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami’s visit to some districts in central Tamil Nadu.
In March, the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department took over the investigation.
“We have filed a charge sheet against the suspended special director general of police and the Chengalpattu superintendent of police,” an unidentified senior officer in the CB-CID told the Hindustan Times. “We have also recommended departmental action to be initiated against four others.”
It was not immediately clear if more names have been mentioned in the charge sheet.
The chargesheet, which is reportedly 400 pages long, was filed before the chief judicial magistrate court in Tamil Nadu’s Villupuram district, reported The Hindu. It was filed by the CB-CID’s investigating officer in the case, Gomathi.
The agency’s recommendation to initiate action is against the then inspector general of the central zone, the former deputy inspector general of Tiruchi Range, the then automation superintendent, and the former deputy commissioner, headquarters.
These police officers have been accused of either trying to coerce the woman to compromise or for asking her not to complain to superior officials about the incident.
The first information report had named Das and Chengalpattu Superintendent of Police D Kannan, who was accused of preventing the woman from filing an official complaint.
Das and Kannan had been booked under Section 354 (outraging modesty of a woman) of the IPC along with sections 3 and 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act.
After the complaint, Das was excluded from meetings related to the security cover for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Coimbatore on February 25. He was also put on “compulsory waiting”, which meant that Das was not given any assignments for a specific time period.
The allegations came to light after the Tamil Nadu government’s home department on February 24 set up a six-member inquiry committee to look into the complaint.
Jayashree Raghunandan, the secretary of planning and development department of the state, has been named the presiding officer of the committee. Apart from Raghunandan, IPS officers Seema Agarwal, A Arun, VK Ramesh Babu, B Shamoondeswari and Loretta Jhona of the International Justice Mission, were part of the committee.
The Internal Complaints Committee, which has conducted an independent investigation, has already submitted its preliminary report to the Tamil Nadu Home Department, according to the Hindustan Times.
On March 1, the Madras High Court had taken suo motu cognisance of the sexual harassment case.