PATNA, Apr 9:
The arrest of IPS officer Pushkar Anand, facing charges of sexually harassing a woman DySP, seems imminent with top Bihar police officials giving the go ahead for completion of the investigation process.
“The committee (set up to probe the case) has found evidence (against the officer) and follow up action is being taken in the case,” Bihar DGP P K Thakur said.
In reply to a query as to whether Anand would be arrested, Thakur said, “Investigation has to be completed and whatever legally is required to be done will be completed.”
The CID is investigating the matter, he said, adding that departmental proceedings have been initiated against Anand.
A woman DySP had lodged an FIR on December 29, 2014, against Anand accusing him of sexually harassing her on the pretext of marrying her when he was posted as SP Kaimur.
The woman officer was posted as DySP at Bhabhua, the district headquarters of Kaimur.
The state government had ordered an inquiry into the matter by a three-member committee headed by a woman IPS officer and IG (Weaker Section) A S Nilekar which had found the allegations to be true.
Later, Nilekar was replaced by Preeta Verma who also found the allegations to be true.
The other members of the inquiry committee were CID SP (weaker section) Harpreet Kaur and AIG (Inspection) Rajesh Kumar.
Sources said the committee not only found the allegations true, but also recommended departmental proceedings against the IPS officer.
The report has been submitted to the state home department.
The DySP in her FIR had alleged that Anand had sexually exploited her on the pretext of marrying her.
She alleged that two days after joining as Kaimur SP in July 2014, Anand had proposed to her on Facebook and WhatsApp.
In the following month, when their marriage looked certain, they established intimate relations and stayed at each other’s place, she said, adding that when her parents requested Anand to fix the wedding date, he refused to marry her on the ground that their horoscopes did not match.
Police sources said the IPS officer did not enjoy any protection from arrest order and will be treated like any other civilian in a criminal case. (PTI)
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