The Assam Police issued a notice to Indian Youth Congress chief Srinivas BV on Sunday while asking him to appear by May 2 for questioning in connection to harassment and gender discrimination allegations by the now-expelled party leader Angkita Dutta. The notice was issued to Srinivas at his Bengaluru residence stating that failure to comply with the order can lead to his arrest.
“A five-member team of Guwahati Police are in Bengaluru. The notice was pasted on the door of his residence as he was not present,” Joint Commissioner Prateek Thube told PTI over phone. “He has been given time till May 2 to appear at Dispur police station,” Thube, who is a part of the Guwahati police team in Bengaluru, said.
The notice said that during the investigation, “reasonable grounds” have been revealed to question Srinivas in the case and, hence, he has been asked to appear before the investigating officer, at 11 am on May 2. A set of 10 directions was given to Srinivas for compliance during the period, including not tampering with evidence, not allowing the destruction of any evidence relevant to the investigation and cooperating with the probe.
“Failure to attend/comply with the terms of this notice can render you liable for arrest under Section 41 A(3) and (4) of CrPC,” it added. Dutta, who was the Assam Youth Congress chief, had filed a case at the Dispur police station last week, claiming that Srinivas has been “harassing and torturing her for the last six months by making sexist comments, using slang words and also threatening her with dire consequences if she keeps complaining against him to the senior party office bearers”.
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 the primary membership for six years on Saturday for “anti-party activities”. Srinivas had 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 suo motu cognisance of Dutta’s allegations and written to the state police for taking necessary action.
(With inputs from PTI)
ALSO READ | Assam Youth Congress president Angkita Dutta, who alleged harassment by Srinivas BV, expelled
ALSO READ | 'Police to take action if...,' says Himanta Sarma on Congress' Angkita Dutta harassment allegations
