IAS officer denies in gang involvement rape controversy

Bhubaneswar, July 14 (UNI) Senior IAS officer Prashant Naik today claimed that charges of gangrape levelled against him was ''motivated'' and aimed at defaming him at the behest of some IAS officers in the state.

Reacting to the recent interview of the woman before a section of the press that she was gangraped by him and others inside the Krishna Tower in Bhubaneswar on July 9,1999, Mr Naik said some other IAS officers in the state who were affected because of his official functioning, were tarnishing his image.

Naik has been summoned by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bhubaneswar to appear before him in September next in connection with the Krishna Tower sex scandal case.

The woman alleged that she was raped by Naik and one Susanta Mahapatra when she visited the Krishna tower in 1999 with another woman.

On being asked why she remained silent for seven years, the woman said she had been threatened with dire consequences by the two if she disclosed the incident to others.

UNI DP SP MSJ BST2204