LAGATAR24 NETWORK
Ranchi, July 16: Khunti Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Sayyed Riyaz, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the 2019 batch who was arrested on July 6 in connection with a sexual harassment complaint, has been granted bail by a Ranchi court.
Riyaz was granted bail after a hearing in the court of ADJ 1 Sanjay Kumar. He will possibly come out of jail by late evening.
The officer was suspended by the Jharkhand government on July 8. He was appointed as the Khunti Sub Divisional Magistrate. This came after an IIT student lodged a complaint of sexual harassment against Riyaz.
The wife of Riyaz is also an IAS officer who is presently posted in the Chhattisgarh district of Janjgir-Champa.
20 IIT students had travelled to Khunti for a tour of the campus and an internship. When the incident happened, they were visiting the officer’s home as part of their study schedule.
The SDM is said to have invited the female students to his house for a party where alcoholic beverages were offered. It was alleged that he pulled the victim, a Madhya Pradesh student at IIT Indore, aside under the guise of speaking to her and tried to harass her.
She managed to escape his grasp and let her coworkers know what had happened. The students then hurriedly left the location and went to the police station to report the IAS official.
The police filed a complaint under the POCSO Act and sections 376D, 376A, 323, 504, and 506 of the IPC.
