Over harassment claims Assam Police issues notice to IYC chief

Guwahati: The Assam Police on Sunday asked Indian Youth Congress President Srinivas B V to appear before it by May 2 for questioning in connection with allegations of harassment and gender discrimination against him may have been dismissed by now-expelled party leader Angkita Dutta.

An Assam police team issued a notice to Srinivas at his Bengaluru residence, saying failure to comply could lead to his arrest.
A five-member team of Guwahati police is in Bengaluru. Joint Commissioner Prateek Thube told PTI over phone that the notice was pasted on the door of his residence as he was not present.

“He has been given time till May 2 to appear at Dispur police station,” said Thobe, who is part of the Guwahati police team in Bengaluru.
The notice said that during the investigation, “reasonable grounds” have been revealed to question Srinivas in the matter and therefore he has been asked to appear before the investigating officer on May 2 at 11 am.

Srinivas was given a set of 10 instructions to comply with during this period, including not tampering with evidence, not allowing any evidence related to the investigation to be destroyed and cooperating with the investigation.
“Failure to attend/comply with the terms of this notice may make you liable for arrest under Section 41A(3) and (4) of the CrPC,” it added.
Dutta, who headed the Assam Youth Congress, had filed a case at the Dispur police station last week, claiming that Srinivas had been “harassing her for the last six months by making sexual comments, using obscene language and is torturing and threatening her. If she continues to complain against him to senior party officials, there will be dire consequences.
She had earlier made similar allegations against him in a series of tweets.

Dutta, who was issued a show-cause notice by the party, was expelled from core membership for six years on Saturday for “anti-party activities”.
Srinivas issued a legal notice to Dutta within hours of her tweets, demanding an apology for her remarks.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) had also taken cognizance of Dutta’s allegations and had written to the state police for necessary action.