The Kishanganj district authorities on Tuesday initiated an inquiry against acting jail superintendent Kripashankar Pandey after a video showing him misbehaving with a minor girl inmate went viral on social networking sites.

Kishanganj sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Kamini Bala visited the jail and inquired from Pandey about the video. Pandey, in his late forties, however, denied the charge saying the girl he had embraced was like his daughter and his intentions were not bad.

He also questioned the veracity of the video.

"The video is doctored and has been made to malign me," Pandey told the SDPO assigned to probe the allegations.

SDPO Bala said the allegations against the jail superintendent were being verified. "It would not be prudent to comment on the matter at this stage. Investigations are underway," she said. She said she would submit the report to her seniors in a day or two after interacting with the girl inmate and other prisoners.

Kishanganj district magistrate (DM) Pankaj Dixit said he ordered the inquiry soon after coming to know of the purported video.

"We have taken a serious note of the matter. Action will be initiated against the official on the basis of the inquiry report," the DM told The Telegraph from Kishanganj on Tuesday.

Preliminary investigation suggests the jail superintendent lured the girl and subsequently took her to his official residence.

The video in question shows Pandey with the girl in objectionable positions.

The minor girl is an undertrial awaiting trial. Details of the charges against her, for which she was undergoing trial, were not known.

"The objectionable postures have raised eyebrows," said a senior police officer on condition of anonymity.

Sources said jail superintendent was pressuring the girl's stepfather not to lodge any complaint with the police. The girl, too, has been threatened with dire consequences. "The jail superintendent is a habitual offender," a resident claimed.

In July last year, Pandey was accused of coercing some jail inmates to indulge in sex on the jail premises.

Then district magistrate (DM) Animesh Kumar Parashar (now Rohtas DM) had constituted a three-member probe team to conduct a detailed investigation.

The probe team comprising additional district magistrate Virendra Kumar, sub-divisional officer Shafiq and sub-divisional police officer Mohammad Kasim had prima facie found the allegations against Pandey, then a jailor, to be true.

Sources said the district magistrate had submitted the report to the prison directorate in Patna, recommending action against Pandey. However, no action was taken against him for reasons best known to the authorities concerned.

Patna divisional commissioner Anand Kishor, who also holds additional charge as inspector-general (prisons), however, promised strict action against the jail superintendent if the allegations against him are found to be true. "I will seek a detailed report from the district magistrate concerned," he told The Telegraph over phone on Tuesday.

Pandey is posted at the divisional jail for the past two years.