TCS Nashik Sexual Harassment and Conversion Case: AIMIM Corporator Mateen Patel Named Accused After Nida Khan’s Arrest
A day after the arrest of Nida Khan in the alleged TCS sexual harassment and religious conversion case, the Nashik City Police on Friday named AIMIM corporator Mateen Patel as an accused in the matter.
According to police sources, Patel is likely to face charges related to allegedly harbouring an offender and obstructing the legal process.
Confirming the development, Nashik City Police Commissioner Sandeep Karnik said that Mateen Patel, a corporator from the Naregaon area of Sambhaji Nagar, had been added as an accused in the ongoing investigation.
“We will investigate and identify everyone who may have sheltered the accused or interfered with the legal process,” Karnik said.
The police commissioner clarified that Patel had not been arrested. Instead, he was issued a notice and later allowed to leave after questioning.
Meanwhile, Nida Khan is expected to be produced before a Nashik court, where the police will seek her custodial interrogation as part of the investigation.
Earlier, while opposing Khan’s bail application, the prosecution alleged that she played a role in influencing one of the victims toward religious conversion. According to investigators,
Khan allegedly provided the woman with a burqa, religious literature, and helped install religious applications on her mobile phone.
Khan, who was employed at the TCS BPO office in Nashik, is among eight accused named in nine FIRs registered by Nashik City Police between March 26 and April 3 in connection with the case.
The other accused — Danish Sheikh, Shafi Shaikh, Asif Ansari, Tausif Attar, Shahrukh Qureshi, Raza Memon and Ashwini Chainani — have already been arrested by the police.
The controversy first surfaced in February after a local political worker approached the police, alleging that a Hindu woman employed at the BPO office was being influenced to adopt Islamic religious practices at her workplace.
Following the complaint, police reportedly deployed undercover constables posing as housekeeping staff inside the 147-employee BPO office for several days.
Investigators later claimed that the covert operation provided sufficient grounds for police action in the case.
Amid the controversy, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) had stated that it follows a strict zero-tolerance policy towards harassment, coercion, or any form of misconduct at the workplace.
The company also said employees allegedly involved in sexual harassment had been suspended pending investigation.
