E-Paper
TCS BPO case: Police remand for 4 accused
Mumbai Naka Police had registered a FIR against the four accused under different sections of BNS on April 2 following a complaint against them by one of their male co-workers
A court in Nashik on Friday remanded four male accused in the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)-linked business process outsourcing (BPO) case to five-day police custody.
The special investigation team (SIT) had re-arrested Tausif Attar, Danish Sheikh, Shahrukh Qureshi and Raza Memon from Nashik Central Jail on Thursday night in another case lodged with their male co-worker. They were in judicial custody in earlier cases.
Public prosecutor Aniket Avhad said that the court of additional chief judicial magistrate SV Lad has remanded all four of them to five days of police custody.
The prosecution had sought 10 days of police custody.
The Mumbai Naka Police had registered a FIR against the four accused under different sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on April 2 following a complaint against them by one of their male co-workers.
The complainant had alleged that the accused allegedly used derogatory language against Hindu deities, forced him to wear Muslim prayer cap and perform namaz. They also forced him to consume non-veg food in an attempt to convert his religion. The complainant alleged that the accused used to pick up fights with him when he opposed their religious coercion and other kinds of harassment.
The prosecution informed the court that the investigators need to carry out a thorough probe to find out in depth the reasons behind religious coercion and sexual harassment at the workplace by the four accused.
“Moreover, the police need to recover their mobile phones and the two cars used to visit the hotel where the complainant was forced to have non-veg food,” said Avhad.
Opposing the police remand, the defense counsel, Baba Sayyeed, told the court that all the four accused were in police remand for over 10 days in other cases in the past.
“There is no need for police remand to recover their mobiles and the two cars,” said Sayyeed.
Sandeep Karnik, Nashik city police commissioner, has set up the SIT headed by ACP Sandeep Mitke to probe the alleged sexual abuse, harrassment and religious coercion at the BPO.
The police have lodged nine FIRs against the eight accused, including two women, of the company between March 26 and April 3 at Devlali and Mumbai Naka police stations. There are multiple cases against the male accused in the case. The SIT have so far arrested seven of them. The remaining one accused Nida Khan is allegedly absconding. She has applied for anticipatory bail, which the court will hear on April 27.
