Hyderabad: Hyderabad city police on Tuesday arrested singer Gazal Srinivas on charges of sexually harassing a woman. The Assistant Commissioner of Police, Panjagutta Division Vijay Kumar, told media that he was taken into custody after an investigation into a complaint filed by a woman Radio Jockey last week.
Later in the day, police produced him in Nampally court, which remanded him to judicial custody until January 12. He was then taken to Chanchalguda Central Jail. The court rejected Srinivas’ bail petition. The police moved a petition for his custody for questioning and it will come up for hearing later.
“We found substantial evidence that the woman was harassed by the singer,” he said. Police investigations revealed that there was truth in the allegations made; that he had summoned the woman to his room and behaved in an uncivilised manner, the ACP said.
The police said that the woman had provided video clips of the incident, which took place in the office of an online radio station in the city.
The woman, whose identity is being kept secret by the police, had lodged complaint on December 29 alleging that the accused was stalking and harassing her and forcing her to give him a massage. She told the police that the accused had been harassing her for the past two months and when the things became unbearable she approached the police.
However, Srinivas has denied the allegations. “I don’t know why this lady is targeting me and levelling this sort of allegations against me,” he said. “I have always saw the girl as my daughter and I respect her very much,” he said.
Denying any massages were given, he said he had suffered an injury and despite his refusal she had applied medicine to his head.
Meanwhile, on the complaint of woman, the police also booked a case against another woman, an attender at the office of radio station for allegedly helping Srinivas.
