CRPF DIG gets the boot for misconduct with woman doctor

CRPF Range DIG Surendra Prasad, posted at Muzaffarpur, has been given marching orders after a woman doctor charged him with making phone calls and entering her house late in the night in an inebriated condition.

The CRPF (Bihar sector) IG, Hemant Priyadarshi said an inquiry has been ordered against Prasad after the charges of misconduct and harassment were levelled by the woman doctor who is posted at the same place.

According to reports, the DIG made numerous calls to the woman doctor, who is in her late 20s. When she did not respond to his calls, he reportedly entered the campus of her residence and her house late at night, a move resisted by her.

The doctor later lodged a complaint with the IG, CRPF narrating her ordeal. On Sunday, she proceeded on leave.

The DIG, however, said that he was under tremendous pressure after coming to know that his brother and other family members had tested Covid positive in New Delhi.

“I wanted to consult the woman doctor who is posted at the composite hospital and know about the various stages of coronavirus. However, due to call drops, I could not speak to her. Then I went to meet my CO friend who stays in the same campus where she stays. In a case of mistaken identity, I knocked her door, instead of my friend’s house,” the DIG, who reportedly has separated from his wife, clarified.

The para-military force has, however, taken the allegations against the DIG seriously. “A senior woman officer will investigate the matter,” said a source in the CRPF, adding that a CRPF DIG in Chhattisgarh was dismissed from service last year after a similar allegation of sexual harassment by a woman officer there.