The Nashik City Police have shared details of the alleged abuse case at a Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)-linked BPO (business process outsourcing) with the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the state Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and intelligence agencies, seeking their assistance in probing possible links of the accused with extremist organisations and any foreign funding.
Police commissioner Sandeep Karnik said on Wednesday that the special investigation team (SIT) is probing into the role of the eight accused, all senior employees at the BPO.
“The police have provided all case details to the NIA, state ATS and intelligence agencies. Only after receiving inputs from them can we determine whether the accused had any international links or external support for such unlawful activities,” Karnik said.
The development comes as the investigation widens beyond workplace misconduct to examine possible larger networks. The police had registered nine FIRs between March 26 and April 3—one at Deolali and eight at Mumbai Naka police stations—based on complaints by nine junior employees alleging sexual abuse, harassment and religious coercion.
A Nashik court also took up the matter on Wednesday with additional judicial magistrate RC Narwadiya remanding the operations-cum-HR manager, arrested on April 13, to 14 days of magisterial custody.
So far, seven of the eight accused—six men and one woman—have been arrested, while another woman is absconding. According to the police, the accused held key positions such as team leads and allegedly misused their authority within the organisation.
Karnik said all seven male accused have been named in multiple FIRs. One case has also been registered against the operations-cum-HR manager for allegedly discouraging a complainant from filing a sexual harassment complaint and for hurting religious sentiments. The other woman accused faces charges of religious harassment.
Police said one complaint by a male employee relates to alleged attempts at religious conversion at the workplace. “One female employee has alleged rape on the pretext of offering a job and marriage, while the remaining complaints pertain to sexual harassment and hurting religious sentiments,” Karnik said.
He said the police initially counselled the first complainant and later visited the office in plainclothes to encourage other employees to come forward.
Meanwhile, Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran has termed the allegations “gravely concerning and anguishing” and announced an internal probe by TCS chief operating officer Aarthi Subramanian. The BPO unit, established in 2017, employs around 150 people.
The National Commission for Women on Wednesday said it has set up a fact-finding committee to probe the alleged incidents of sexual harassment of employees at a Tata Consultancy Services BPO unit in Nashik, Maharashtra.
In a statement, the Commission said the panel will visit the facility on April 17 to conduct an on-the-spot inquiry, examine the circumstances leading to the incident and assess the response of the authorities.
“The National Commission for Women (NCW) has taken suo motu cognisance of serious media reports concerning alleged incidents of sexual harassment of women at the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) BPO unit in Nashik, Maharashtra,” the statement read.
“Taking a serious view of the matter, the Commission, in exercise of its powers under Section 8 of the National Commission for Women Act, 1990, has constituted a fact-finding committee to conduct a detailed inquiry into the incident. The committee will visit the place of incident on 17th April,” it added.
With agency inputs
