Hotel owner, a conduit to former Chief Secretary Jitendra Narain, arrested in Port Blair rape

“He is one of the country’s high and mighty…, and he only looks for special girls,” says the narrator. This is a telling excerpt from a two-minute conference call recorded by the 21-year-old victim at the center of the Port Blair job-for-sex scandal before she was summoned to the official residence of the alleged rapist, then-Chief Secretary Jitendra Narain.

This is a phone call between her and Sandeep Singh alias Rinku, a hotel owner who introduced her to then-Labour Commissioner R L Rishi, who is also listening in.

While Narain was apprehended by the Andaman and Nicobar Police last week, Rinku was apprehended in Haryana on Sunday and taken into custody in Port Blair on Monday. He had been denied bail previously, and the A&N Police had announced a cash reward for both Rinku and Rishi.

Officials said the interception of telephone calls from people known to be in contact with Rinku, as well as some cash withdrawals, led to the hotelier’s arrest. Rishi has yet to be apprehended.

The audio clip, first reported by The Indian Express on October 15, was a key piece of evidence handed over by the 21-year-old woman to the case’s Special Investigating Team (SIT).

“Tum tum confidential hai… kabhi mat lena naam phone par… Phone tap bhi hote hain (you are private… Never give his name over the phone because phones can be tapped).” During that call, Rinku allegedly instructs her not to name Narain and to keep her visits private.