Police are investigating allegations of attempted religious conversion and sexual harassment at a Nashik IT firm, revealing a potential organised effort targeting female employees and prompting a wider investigation into possible extremist links.
Police have registered nine cases of attempt to religious conversion and sexual harassment at a local branch of an IT firm in Nashik, with the investigation suggesting that the seven male accused operated like an organised gang to target female employees, a senior officer said.
Explaining the role of the two female accused, one of them is absconding, Nashik Police Commissioner Sandeep Karnik said on Wednesday that the arrested operations and HR head of the unit had allegedly discouraged a victim from submitting a complaint, saying 'these things happen' and sided with the accused.
In a related development, the Nashik court on Wednesday remanded the female operations manager to judicial custody till April 28.
Responding to reports speculating involvement of any extremist organisation or funding from abroad to the accused, the police commissioner said a thorough investigation is underway, and the police have written to the Special Investigations Division (SID), Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) and National Investigation Agency (NIA).
"As and when we get some evidence, we will be able to come to a conclusion about the same," he added.
He said nine cases registered by the police include a complaint lodged by a male employee of the firm, alleging an attempt at religious conversion and religious harassment at the workplace.
Earlier this week, the police formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the complaints lodged by eight female employees, who claimed that senior colleagues mentally and sexually harassed them, while the human resources department ignored their complaints.
Police have arrested eight employees of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), including seven men and the female operations manager. Another female employee is absconding, according to investigators.
The male accused are identified as Danish Sheikh, Tausif Attar, Raza Memon, Shahrukh Qureshi, Shafi Sheikh, Asif Aftab Ansar, and Shahrukh Sheikh.
Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran had termed sexual harassment as "gravely concerning and anguishing", and announced that a thorough investigation is underway under TCS's Chief Operating Officer Arathi Subramanian to establish the facts and identify individuals responsible for the situation.
"Nine FIRs have been registered in Nashik involving allegations of attempted religious conversion, sexual harassment, and religious harassment at the workplace. The accused-nine in total, including seven men and two women-held positions of authority such as team leaders and allegedly misused their roles to harass co-workers," Karnik said.
He said the male accused appeared across multiple cases, suggesting coordinated misconduct. One female accused is named in a single case of religious harassment, while another, an HR head, is accused of discouraging a victim from filing a complaint."
"Police are conducting a thorough investigation and have contacted agencies like the SID, ATS, and NIA to examine any possible wider links. Initially, the first complainant was hesitant, but after receiving support and counselling from the police, more victims came forward, leading to multiple FIRs being registered," he added.
Karnik said a woman DCP and some female police personnel were sent to the office to conduct an inquiry.
When they interacted with the staff and tried to counsel everyone, the other complainants came forward, he added.