IIITM retired security officer held for alleged rape of ex-student; former director also named in FIR

The main accused, Dinesh Dwivedi, the retired security officer of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management (IIITM), was arrested from Etawah in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday morning

Gwalior:A retired security officer of Gwalior-based ABV-IIITM was arrested after a case of rape was registered against him and a former director of the prestigious institute for allegedly raping an ex-student under the pretext of offering her job, an officer said on Sunday.

The main accused, Dinesh Dwivedi, the retired security officer of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management (IIITM), was arrested from Etawah in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday morning, Gwalior Superintendent of Police Amit Sanghi told reporters. The complainant student is a resident of Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. As per the FIR, she had taken the admission for M.Tech course in the IIITM, Gwalior, in 2015.

The woman alleged that when she came to Gwalior in 2017 to collect her degree, IIITM's then security officer Dinesh Dwivedi took her to a flat under the pretext of ensuring a job for her in the institute, the SP said.

The complainant has alleged that Dwivedi demanded Rs 5 lakh from her for the job. He also made her talk to the then IIITM director over the phone, the SP said quoting the FIR. Later, Dwivedi allegedly offered a spiked drink to the woman and raped her in the flat. The complainant alleged that she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by the main accused Dwivedi over a long period, the SP said.

The complainant claimed that she had paid Rs 3.60 lakh to Dwivedi who had promised her a job but as he continued to blackmail her, she lodged a complaint at the Hazira police station, the police officer said. Dwivedi and the former director of the IIITM were booked under relevant sections of rape and cheating of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Further investigation is underway, he said.

"The retired security officer was arrested from Etawah on Sunday morning. The investigation is on to ascertain if the person the complainant has claimed to have spoken to over the phone was the then director of the IIITM or not," Sanghi said.

When contacted, the former director said that he had left the institute three years back. "I have no information about this matter. All the allegations are baseless. Police have not contacted me so far, he said while expressing surprise over the development.

(PTI)