Ram Rahim rape verdict: Anxious corporates in Gurgaon leave offices early

A large number of employees preferred to work from home and opted not to travel, suspecting unrest. Those who came to work remained anxious and were constantly monitoring the situation.

Anxious corporates left offices in Gurgaon in the afternoon due to apprehensions of unrest after Dera Sacha Saud chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was convicted in a rape case.

Several companies released advisories for their employees to take half-day leave while some asked employees to leave before 4pm. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

A large number of employees preferred to work from home and opted not to travel, suspecting unrest. Those who came to work remained anxious and were constantly monitoring the situation.

To be on the safer side, several companies released advisories for their employees to take half-day leave while some asked employees to leave before 4pm. The advisories were mainly meant for employees coming from Delhi or other NCR areas to Gurgaon.

Though no untoward incident was reported till Friday evening, companies did not want to take any chance and let employees leave early.

“We released an advisory by noon because of the verdict in the case. Safety of employees is important and we did not want any untoward. We asked them to leave early, by 4pm, though several of them had shifts past 7pm,” a spokesperson for Airtel, a telecom company, said.

“Precautionary measures have been adopted in the Cyber City. Though everything seems under control, it is good to be cautious and mindful. Travelling back home seemed a bit troublesome and we left early,” said Abhinandan Sharma, an IT executive working in CyberHub.

Several IT companies have flexible working conditions and allowed employees to work from home in such circumstances, as the safety of employees is paramount, said an official of National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom).

“An advisory was sent to employees who wanted to leave early so that they were not stuck in an unwanted situation. The advisory was for the safety of the employees,” Megha Jha, spokesperson Nagarro, a software development and business consulting company, said.

“I left my office as soon as the verdict was pronounced. I did not want to get stuck in a riot-like situation. Many of my colleagues also left,” said Shashank Gupta, a senior manager with an international bank.