<p>Identified as V V Radhakrishnan, the scientist got bold enough to send, what the police describe as indecent messages, to the 20-something woman who had placed the advert. He allegedly rang her up several times, miusing the advert’s intent, and sought sexual contact. The scientific officer sent text messages on the cell phone number given in the ad, believing that he could rightfully seek the services of an escort agency.<br /><br />The harried woman complained to the Pallavaram police. Under the pretext of responding to the officer’s call, she asked him to come to a certain place where the police promptly arrested Radhakrishnan, police sources said. <br /><br />At the time of his arrest, Radhakrishnan is believed to have furnished a false name, a fictitious Bangalore address and a fake software company so his real identity did not get revealed. <br /><br />On Wednesday, when Radhakarishnan’s wife, Sheeja, who works as a teacher in Kerala, lodged a missing person’s report with Sadarasapattinam police after he stopped answering her calls from Saturday, alarm bells rang not just at the atomic research centre but in the corridors of power here.<br /><br />A massive search for the “missing” scientist was launched on Thursday when he was found safe in the most unsuspecting of places: the Puzhal Central Jail.<br /><br />Barely days after the 35-year-old scientist absconded from his Anu Puram official quarters near Kalpakkam, the police were stunned to find his photo, published in some local papers, matching with that of a person already cooling his heels in Puzhal jail on sexual harassment charges. <br /><br />Radhakrishnan lived alone in his quarters. “He has been a middle-level scientific officer attached to the IGCAR’s engineering services section involved in routine electrical works and does not have access to any sensitive information or data,” Department of Atomic Energy spokesman J Daniel Chellappa said. <br /><br />Even as the Kalpakkam police mounted a massive search for the scientist, cracking the case was left to the suburban Pallavaram police. On seeing Radhakrishnan’s picture in local newspapers, they immediately informed the Kalpakkam and Sadarasapattinam police that their “wanted man” was very much safe in judicial custody. <br /><br />“We had already arrested the scientist on June 7 on a complaint of sexual harassment from a woman in her late 20s,” police sources said. Radhakrishnan was booked under Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Women Harassment Act 2002, the police said. His wife visited the cell on Thursday to confirm his identity. <br /></p>
<p>Identified as V V Radhakrishnan, the scientist got bold enough to send, what the police describe as indecent messages, to the 20-something woman who had placed the advert. He allegedly rang her up several times, miusing the advert’s intent, and sought sexual contact. The scientific officer sent text messages on the cell phone number given in the ad, believing that he could rightfully seek the services of an escort agency.<br /><br />The harried woman complained to the Pallavaram police. Under the pretext of responding to the officer’s call, she asked him to come to a certain place where the police promptly arrested Radhakrishnan, police sources said. <br /><br />At the time of his arrest, Radhakrishnan is believed to have furnished a false name, a fictitious Bangalore address and a fake software company so his real identity did not get revealed. <br /><br />On Wednesday, when Radhakarishnan’s wife, Sheeja, who works as a teacher in Kerala, lodged a missing person’s report with Sadarasapattinam police after he stopped answering her calls from Saturday, alarm bells rang not just at the atomic research centre but in the corridors of power here.<br /><br />A massive search for the “missing” scientist was launched on Thursday when he was found safe in the most unsuspecting of places: the Puzhal Central Jail.<br /><br />Barely days after the 35-year-old scientist absconded from his Anu Puram official quarters near Kalpakkam, the police were stunned to find his photo, published in some local papers, matching with that of a person already cooling his heels in Puzhal jail on sexual harassment charges. <br /><br />Radhakrishnan lived alone in his quarters. “He has been a middle-level scientific officer attached to the IGCAR’s engineering services section involved in routine electrical works and does not have access to any sensitive information or data,” Department of Atomic Energy spokesman J Daniel Chellappa said. <br /><br />Even as the Kalpakkam police mounted a massive search for the scientist, cracking the case was left to the suburban Pallavaram police. On seeing Radhakrishnan’s picture in local newspapers, they immediately informed the Kalpakkam and Sadarasapattinam police that their “wanted man” was very much safe in judicial custody. <br /><br />“We had already arrested the scientist on June 7 on a complaint of sexual harassment from a woman in her late 20s,” police sources said. Radhakrishnan was booked under Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Women Harassment Act 2002, the police said. His wife visited the cell on Thursday to confirm his identity. <br /></p>
