IAS officer denies sexual assault charges, levels allegations against officials

Reny Wilfred addressing the media on Wednesday.

• KOHIMA — Reny Wilfred, the IAS officer embroiled in an alleged sexual assault case, has denied the charges against him.
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• Nagaland Police has recently launched an investigation after it had received a complaint against the officer whose latest position in Nagaland government was as joint secretary of Planning and Transformation and Industrial Development Authority of Nagaland (IDAN).
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• Director General of Police (DGP) Nagaland, Rupin Sharma, informed that a First Information Report (FIR) was filed last week at Crime Cell, Police Headquarters, Kohima. He updated that the investigation has already started, and therefore they cannot provide further information at this stage.
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• Consequently, the state government issued a notification on April 4 stating that “in the interest of public service, the government of Nagaland is pleased to relieve Reny Wilfred of the charge of Joint Secretary, Planning and Transformation, IDAN with immediate effect.”
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• Before this case, an FIR was also filed against the IAS officer for alleged sexual assault on two minor girls while he was the Deputy Commissioner of Noklak in 2021. The latest complaint was filed by the Nagaland State Women Commission (NSCW).

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• Speaking to journalists in Kohima on Wednesday, Wilfred denied the charges of sexual harassment and molestation “in toto”. Rather, he levelled some serious allegations against an unnamed senior government official from Nagaland, some officers in the Police department, the NSCW, and the legal counsel of the NSCW.
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• According to him, a senior government officer had in 2016-17 approached him for technical and financial support to topple the Rio-led government, which he had turned down.
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• “At that point, a group was formed for ensuring support flowed through, for ensuring that the government is toppled, and in the next election the government is not coming through,” he said, adding that he can substantiate the claim.
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• Wilfred also said that this was not the first attempt to arrest him. He claimed that the first attempt was made in January 2021 when, in a public forum, he had reportedly countered the particular officer for saying something against Nagaland.
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• The next day, he claimed that the then SP of Noklak had said that she had received orders to arrest him.
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• “In the month of January, some officers of Police department, with some others, had a meeting to fix me,” he claimed, adding that he cannot disclose the details since “there are matters that are sub judice.”
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• While in Noklak
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• While serving as DC Noklak, he claimed to have discovered a child trafficking network operating there—prompting him to ask the people concerned to ensure every village keeps a register. This, he said, attracted complaints against him.
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• “Now, all of a sudden, (those) who were aware of this issue or who were helping me to identify the people (traffickers) started to have unnatural deaths,” he said, adding that none of the dead bodies underwent post mortem.
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• Wilfred further claimed that his transfer petitions in High Court and Supreme Court were rejected because of a report by Police department saying that there was no threat to his life. He claimed that there was a compromise.
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• He cited a Nagaland report after a three-member committee was formed under the direction of the High Court. The report stated: “Hence, the stance taken by the IGP CID on such compromise agreement only on verbal confirmation should not be considered and submission so made by the KMN Council shall be null and void of merit.”
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• Claiming loss of trust in the police, the IAS officer sought an investigation by intelligence agencies to ascertain whether a group including officers was formed to topple the then government.
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• He added he would be filing a petition very soon.
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• On the latest FIR against him, he claimed that the NSCW should have had the courtesy of giving him a call or asking for his statement. According to him, there is a “bias with which the legal team of NSCW had acted."
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• “Incidentally, the counsel for Nagaland State Women Commission, who is also the counsel for Police department, is the lawyer representing the alleged victims in Tuensang court. And there are written submissions given to the government by some of the people, with copies delivered to me as well, that this lawyer has cherry-picked statements to ensure that things are going in a particular manner,” he claimed.
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• He accused the counsel of having multiple employments and drawing salary from multiple departments.
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• “There are two documents fabricated against me submitted in High Court by the same advocate,” he alleged.
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• “For sexual harassment complaints, there is something called due process. The complaints, even if NSCW received them, should have been given to the internal complaints committee which is existing there in IDAN, also in the Secretariat, and the committee should have evaluated them and submitted them to police for evaluation. The whole process has been cross-circuited or short-circuited to ensure that a case is filed and fixed,” he added.
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• He asked for time to prove his point. “For this one-track case fabricated against me, it took me two years to prove that it is fabrication. With this case, how long I am going to take, I do not know. So, at least allow me time,” he said.
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•  “If I am forced to move out of Nagaland, you all will believe that I have run away or gone absconding from Nagaland because I have actually done something wrong. You will assume – people will assume that I have done something wrong,” Wilfred maintained, adding that he will not run away.
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• NSF, DNSU slam delay in police probe
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• The Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) has expressed outrage at the delay in concluding the police investigation against Reny Wilfred, who stands accused of sexual harassment at the workplace by female employees under his authority.
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• In a letter to DGP Nagaland, the federation stated that despite the gravity of the charges and the trauma inflicted on the victims, “the matter remains unresolved, thereby undermining the principle of justice and the safety of women in government service.”
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• The NSF maintained that it is closely monitoring the developments and will not remain silent should justice be denied or delayed.
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• “Any attempt by political or bureaucratic elements to interfere with or derail the process of investigation will be strongly opposed. Any such individuals or entities attempting to shield the accused shall be held equally responsible and accountable in the eyes of the Naga public,” it warned.
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• The NSF demanded that the investigation be concluded without any further delay and necessary action be taken immediately against the accused based on the findings.
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• In a separate statement, the Dimapur Naga Students’ Union (DNSU) expressed its unequivocal support for the NSF’s stance.
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• “We find it utterly reprehensible that despite the severity of these allegations and the manifest trauma inflicted upon the victims, the investigation remains in a state of desultory inertia,” it stated.
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• The DNSU requested the Nagaland police headquarters “to discharge its duties with unwavering rectitude, alacrity, and the requisite perspicacity that this exigent situation demands.”

• With contributions from our Kohima Correspondent Livine Khrozhoh