Srinivas was accompanied by his lawyer and Assam Congress leaders, including MLAs Rakibul Hussain and Rekibuddin Ahmed.
Published May 22, 2023 | 4:39 PM ⚊ Updated May 22, 2023 | 4:39 PM
Srinivas BV speaking at an event. (Facebook)
Indian Youth Congress (IYC) president Srinivas BV on Monday, 22 May, appeared before the police in Guwahati for questioning in a sexual and mental harassment case filed by now-expelled IYC leader Angkita Dutta.
He reached the Panbazar Women’s police station at 11 am after landing at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport earlier in the day.
Srinivas was accompanied by his lawyer and Assam Congress leaders, including MLAs Rakibul Hussain and Rekibuddin Ahmed.
After spending nearly one-and-a-half hours at the police station, he left for the office of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in the city.
While coming out of the office an hour later, he told waiting reporters, “The matter is before the court.” The CID had also issued a separate notice to Srinivas in the same case.
The Supreme Court, on 17 May, granted him interim protection from arrest.
A bench of Supreme Court Justices BR Gavai and Sanjay Karol also issued notices to the Assam government and others, seeking their replies in the matter by 10 July.
“We have perused the (CrPC section) 164 statement, which has been so graciously placed before us by the prosecution. We do not wish to say anything against the state at this stage. Taking into consideration the one-month delay in lodging FIR, the petitioner is entitled to interim protection,” the bench said.
The top court also directed Srinivas to cooperate in the investigation and appear before the police on 22 May.
Dutta had made the allegations against the IYC president in a series of tweets on 18 April.
IYC President Srinivas BV and Dr Angkita Dutta
Dutta had alleged that BV Srinivas had harassed her for over six months. He had threatened her not to bring it to the notice of Congress leaders. He allegedly assaulted her on 25 February in a hotel in Chhattisgarh, and also allegedly harassed her in Guwahati earlier.
She added that he recently roped in Assam IYC secretary Vardhan Yadhav and both of them had jointly campaigned and lobbied against her to get her thrown out of the IYC.
She also alleged that she had brought this matter to the notice of the IYC general secretary and also Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.
But no inquiry or action was initiated against both BV Srinivas or Vardhan Yadav despite her complaints, she said.
Dutta alleged that BV Srinivas used to undermine her because of her gender.
She said she was sidelined on several instances, or kept uninformed about important developments.
They also did not involve her in decision-making, despite her being the president of the State IYC unit, Dutta alleged.
She also said BV Srinivas engaged Vardhan Yadav and made posters of hers along with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma — a BJP leader — and initiated a campaign on social media lobbying against her.
They claimed she was all set to join the BJP to avoid being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the CBI in the Saradha Chit Fund case, she said.
Dutta added that she even forwarded the posters to Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, but no action was initiated against Srinivas or Vardhan Yadav.
She filed the complaint on 19 April at a police station in Kamrup, Assam. BV Srinivas has been booked under various Sections of IPC 294, 342, 352, 354, 354(A)(iv), 506 and 509, and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act.
Meanwhile, Congress leaders claimed that its youth wing workers were prevented by the police in different districts from coming to Guwahati to extend solidarity with their national president.
Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Debabrata Saikia said, “We are members of the party which is known for following the ideology of non-violence. We respect the law of the land. Srinivas is appearing before the police here as ordered by the Supreme Court.”
He claimed that Youth Congress members from different districts of Assam wanted to show their support to Srinivas in Guwahati but they were prevented by the local police, which threatened them with arrest or other actions under different provisions of law.
Hussian, who has been with Srinivas since he reached Guwahati, said, “We are abiding by every laid down rule. If the government is so confident, we fail to understand why is it putting restrictions on the people?”
(With PTI inputs)
