By Pravin Sharma
The Andaman and Nicobar Island police has filed chargesheet against senior IAS officer and former Chief Secretary of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jitendra Narain, who is at the epicentre of a sexual allegation in which 20 women were allegedly taken to his Port Blair residence in a job-for-sex racket. The 935-page chargesheet has accused Narain and other three of gangrape. The Andaman And Nicobar police has constituted a Special Investigative Team (SIT) comprising one senior IPS officer and five other members to investigate the case. The SIT has gathered statements of 90 witnesses besides several electronic, technical and bio evidences to corroborate the incident.
Earlier on October 10, 2022, the case was registered by the orders of the High Court, and on November 10, the accused Jitendra Narain was arrested in the gang rape case.
The Case
The sexual allegation had come into the open after a 20-year-old woman alleged that the former Chief Secretary Jitendra Narain and the then Labour commissioner of Andaman and Nicobar Islands R.L. Rishi sexually exploited her and was subjected to gang-rape.
The woman had alleged that she was introduced to Labour commissioner Rishi through a known person and was taken to the residence of the then Chief Secretary Narain.
The woman in her complaint alleged that she was offered alcohol at Narain's residence and when she declined it she was forcibly raped and sexually assaulted by the Chief Secretary and the Labour Commissioner.
There were reports that the Call Data Records (CDR)s of the two bureaucrats and of the 20-year-old matched with the time of sexual assault as complained by her. The tower location of the woman and two senior officers matched her allegation.
It was also alleged that the hard disk of the CCTV camera at the Chief Secretary's residence was erased and the Digital Video Recorder was also removed from the residence while he was transferred from Port Blair to New Delhi.
The former Chief Secretary was later suspended by the Union Home Ministry after reports came out on his sexual forays.
Jitendra Narain had written to the Union Home Ministry and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands that a conspiracy was against him and that he had proof to demonstrate the fake nature of the case.
Who is Jitendra Narain
Born in October 1966 to the influential Raibahadur family in Bihar's Begusarai, Narain became an IAS officer in 1990 and was appointed as the chief secretary of Andaman and Nicobar islands in March this year. He did his schooling from St. Paul, Darjeeling. He did his BA and MA in History from St Stephens, Delhi University.
Controversies Galore
Known to be an upright officers to many, Narain never fell shy of controversies. He took actions on high-profile cases of corruption when it was an unsaid practice for other officers to let them be as they are. He came in the limelight for the first time when he boldly carried out raids in Chandra Swami's ashrams during the latter's heydays under the premiership of PV Narsimha Rao. For doing this, he was immediately removed from his post.
During the chief ministership of Sheila Dixit, he raided six adoption houses that were indulging in illegal actions. The crackdown created much uproar and political heartburn but led to large-scale reform in adoption by the government. He also exposed the racket of pensions to over 30,000 dead persons and then also made a transparent and improved system of verification. During his stint with Municipal Corporation Delhi (MCD), he took a stand against the whims of the now-infamous meat Mafia in the tender of slaughterhouses, much to the chagrin of the then Commissioner and the political bosses.
When he was the Labour Commissioner of Delhi, he ordered the prosecution and sealing of one of the largest and most connected private builders of India for serious violations. For taking his stand, he was again promptly transferred out of Delhi to the tough terrains of Arunachal Pradesh for the second time.
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