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PTC MD held on complaint of Miss Punjaban contestant
Strap: On complaint of Miss Punjaban contestant, who was rescued by HC-appointed warrant officer last month The Punjab Police on Wednesday arrested PTC managing director Rabinder Narayan on the complaint of a contestant of Miss Punjaban beauty pageant that she was harassed in a room after bolting it from inside by one of the staff members during the show
Strap: On complaint of Miss Punjaban contestant, who was rescued by HC-appointed warrant officer last month
The Punjab Police on Wednesday arrested PTC managing director Rabinder Narayan on the complaint of a contestant of Miss Punjaban beauty pageant that she was harassed in a room after bolting it from inside by one of the staff members during the show.
Narayan was arrested on Wednesday from his Gurugram residence and produced in the Mohali court, which sent him to two-day police remand.
Acting on the plea of the victim’s father, the Punjab and Haryana high court had on March 15 appointed a warrant officer to rescue the contestant from Mohali. The petitioner had also alleged that the accused had asked for ₹50 lakh to release of his daughter. After releasing the detainee, the warrant officer had submitted the report.
Subsequently, on March 17, the Mohali police registered a case against Nancy Ghuman, director, Miss Punjab 2022-23, and Niharika Jain, assistant director, Miss PTC contest 2022-23, Rabinder Narayan, MD, PTC channel, Bhupinder Singh, MD, Hotel JD Residency, Lakshman producer and 25 other unknown persons.
The victim had alleged that all participants had auditioned at the PTC office, Industrial Area 138, Phase 8 B, Mohali. On being selected, she was called on March 10 this year to participate in the pageant.Arrangements for the girls’ stay were made at JD residency, Phase 5, Mohali.
The rehearsal was on till 11 pm after which the girls were dropped at the hotel.
The men and the other accused, with fake names, were using secret codes, and one of them molested her, the victim said.
The accused would call her to a secret room in their studio and also asked vulgar questions and do obscene acts with her, she claimed.
They also clicked her objectionable photographs, forcing her to pay ₹12-15 lakh or to spend a night with their director, who organises the contest to remain in the show.
The complainant also alleged that the accused are also involved in trafficking and run a prostitute racket.
When they learnt that she got a whiff of their activities, they kept her in confinement.
The victim somehow narrated her ordeal to her father, as per the FIR.
The police also constituted a special investigation team (SIT) under the DSP (headquarters), station house officer, police station women cell, and sub-inspector Sukhdeep Kaur. Following the SIT’s report, the MD was arrested and raids are being conducted to arrest the other accused.
Nancy Ghumman had filed a bail application in the Mohali court, which was dismissed.
Meanwhile, Arshdeep Singh, counsel for the MD, stated in the court that the case is politically motivated with some hidden agenda by the ruling party, which is clear from the videos and DVR’s taken by the police that the complainant is freely roaming on the roads and meeting people, which was against the norms of the contest.
He said the SIT formed in the case has already recorded the statement of Narayan and he was fully cooperating with the police. “We fail to understand why they arrested him in the first place,” he said.
