Ranchi, Oct. 23: The Criminal Investigation Department today began an independent investigation into the alleged molestation of a Madhya Pradesh cadre IPS officer’s sister posted as the principal of Anand Shankar Rotary School at Daltonganj by the president of the Palamau chapter of the Rotary Club.

The CID today recorded the statement of the victim after she lodged a formal complaint with the weaker section’s cell of the department . The victim’s brother, Solomon Yash Kumar Minz, is posted as the commandant of Madhya Pradesh Armed Police at Zavra while she lives with her mother at Daltonganj. She had lodged a complaint earlier against Rotary Club president Deepak Lal. She alleged that on September 22, while on her way home from the market, Lal and an accomplice came in a Maruti car, stopped her rickshaw. They molested and forced her into the car. She was also threatened.

But the accused claimed that he was with Palamau SP Anil Palta holding important discussions when the incident occurred. He also claimed that the executive committee of the Club had found that the executive director and the principal had misappropriated an amount of Rs 8 lakh from the school funds.

Following the detection, both of them were removed from service, Lal said. But the victim alleged that the president made advances towards her on numerous occasions and she had lodged a formal complaint with the executive director of the school, A. N. Sharma.

“Even before the September 22 incident Lal used to make dirty phone calls to me. He offered to increase my salary if I succumbed to his wishes. On September 5, the Teacher’s Day, he tried to molest me,” she alleged.

The victim said that soon after the incident she informed Sharma. He gave a written apology stating that Lal was sorry and assured the incident would not be repeated. She has attached a copy of the letter along with her petition to the CID.

She alleged that after the September 22 incident she met the Palamau SP Anil Palta, who deputed an officer to investigate the matter. But the Palamau police did not arrest the accused in spite of her brother calling up senior police officers from Madhya Pradesh for help.

“The day the police officer came to our residence, Deepak threatened me and my family over phone of dire consequences. But the police did not take note of it,” she alleged.

A DSP in the CID has now taken up the investigations. The CID has recorded the statement of the rickshaw puller Vinod Mahto, who was the only eyewitness to the incident on September 22.