Ex-Andaman chief secretary grilled for over 6 hours on second day in gang rape case

Former chief secretary of Andaman and Nicobar Islands Jitendra Narain was on Saturday questioned for the second day in a row in connection with the alleged gang rape of a 21-year-old woman, an official said.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT), formed to probe into allegations that the woman was raped by Narain and another official by promising her a government job, interrogated the ex-chief secretary for around six and a half hours. He was grilled for over eight hours on Friday.

The SIT, headed by senior IPS officer Monika Bhardwaj of the Andaman and Nicobar Police, started questioning the senior official at around 11 AM on Saturday at Police Lines in Port Blair. He left the premises at 5.30 PM, the official said.


He may be called again for questioning on Sunday, according to a source.

Narain, who is staying at a private resort here, was brought inside the Police Lines premises through a rear gate to avoid protesters, as was done the previous day.

Besides him, Labour Commissioner R L Rishi was also accused of raping the woman while a police inspector and a hotel owner were named in the FIR as accomplices in the crime.

The police inspector was also interrogated by the SIT on Friday.

Narain arrived here to face questioning following a Calcutta High Court order.

An FIR against him and others was registered on October 1 when Narain was posted as the chairman and managing director of the Delhi Financial Corporation. The government suspended him on October 17 with immediate effect.

The woman said as her father and stepmother did not take care of her financial needs, she required a job and was introduced by some people to the labour commissioner as he was close to the then chief secretary.

She claimed in the FIR that the chief secretary appointed "7,800 candidates" in various departments in the administration of the islands "on the basis of recommendation only" and without any "formal interview".

The woman alleged that she was lured to the chief secretary's home with the promise of a government job, and then raped there on April 14 and May 1.

A vacation bench of the Calcutta High Court comprising justices Bibek Chaudhuri and Prasenjit Biswas has granted interim protection against arrest to Narain till a date that will be fixed by the circuit bench in Port Blair on November 14, on its first date of sitting after the Durga Puja vacation.

The court also noted that Narain, who was transferred to Delhi on July 21, has declared that he is ready and willing to cooperate with the investigation.

A joint team of police officers from Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Delhi had raided the house of Narain on October 18.