An alleged extortion case against a woman former employee of an IT firm and her husband has taken a turn with the CEO of the same company and his three colleagues now facing a case of sexual harassment on the complaint of the woman.
A day after Kochi infopark police registered the case against the CEO of Litmus 7 Systems Consulting Private Limited, Venu Gopalakrishnan, on Wednesday, he sought pre-arrest bail from the High Court. The HC restrained the arrest of his colleagues Jacob P Thamby, Eby Paul and Bimalraj Haridas till the government prosecutor files instructions from the police. However, the HC has not given any relief to 51-year-old Venu booked for criminal intimidation, insulting modesty of woman and sexual harassment.
The CEO and others faced the case a week after his former colleague and her husband were arrested on charges of extortion. After obtaining bail, the couple filed complaints with police higher ups, leading to registration of FIR against Venu and others.
Last month, Venu, in his complaint, had alleged that the couple had accused him of having an affair with the woman and threatened him with a rape case to extort money .
He alleged that on July 23, she contacted the three staff members of the company and asked them to come to a hotel in Kochi where the couple allegedly demanded Rs 30 crore to settle the matter. The couple allegedly sought an assurance in writing from Venu and asked him to transfer `10 crore to her account and two cheques for the remaining amount. On July 28, Rs 50,000 was transferred from Venu’s account to that of the woman’s. The next day, the couple were arrested by the police on charges of extortion and remanded in judicial custody.
Days later after they got bail, the couple complained to police alleging sexual harassment by Venu when she worked with him. She said she joined the company in February 2024 and quit after getting married earlier this year, but she alleged that her former employer continued to pester her.
She alleged that when she and her husband were about to lodge a complaint against the CEO, the three representatives of the company came for mediation. She alleged that the staff told her Venu was ready to apologise and asked the couple to come to a hotel on July 29, where they were arrested.
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The couple, in their complaint, said Venu transferred Rs 50,000 to her bank account without information her. In her complaint, she gave details about the alleged incidents of sexual harassment.
