In a major twist to the controversy surrounding a 'leaked' audio note and the Naryana Group of educational institutions, the Uppal police on Saturday arrested Naveen Goud, the vice-principal of Narayana College’s Ramanthapur branch.
The police claimed that Goud had allegedly threatening Saritha Agarwal, Principal of the same branch, whose voice is heard in the viral audio note, and forced her to speak over the phone.
According to reports, he was picked up from Rajanna-Sircilla district by a special team of the Uppal police, and brought to Hyderabad. He was then presented in court, where he moved a bail petition, which was granted.
“The complainant was part of a conversation that was allegedly recorded by the accused without her consent. Agarwal, in her complaint, said that since the contents of the audio clip were controversial, Goud was threatening to malign her...We asked him the series of events as we narrated the accusations levelled by the complainant. Goud refuted all the allegations and said that he did not have any connections with Agarwal,"Anjaneyulu, sub-inspector and investigating officer, told the Times of India.
The police had booked Goud under under Sections 354D (stalking) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.
Background
Earlier this week, ABVP activists forced their way into the premises of the Narayana Junior College in Hyderabad's Narayanaguda area, and destroyed property.
Demanding action against Dean Jayasimha Reddy, the students entered his office and smashed windows, broke furniture and raised slogans, before overturning his desk.
The entire incident reached its violent peak, after a 40-minute audio note of a phone conversation began doing the rounds on social media this week.
The phone conversation, seemingly between a female teacher of the institute, now identified as Saritha, and an unidentified man, makes some damning allegations against the institute.
Besides accusing the dean of constant sexual harassment of female staffers, it also alleges that there was large-scale corruption and irregularities in the group of institutions following demonetisation last year.
The audio note has also resulted in police complaints being filed across the city.
Naveen Goud himself, has filed a complaint with the Uppal police alleging that he was being threatened for releasing the audio note.
Meanwhile, addressing reporters, Narayana spokesperson N Veerababu said, "The audio note is not related to Narayana institutes in any way. It's a personal conversation between two people who are gossiping and passing comments. It is a campaign to defame Narayana and we ask people not to believe such things."
"However, we are still conducting an internal enquiry to see if there is any truth to these allegations. If true, we will take strict action," he added.