Woman Staff At Bhubaneswar Airport Accuses Senior Of Sexual Harassment

Bhubaneswar: A woman working at Biju Patnaik International Airport here on Thursday accused her senior of sexual harassment.

Both the woman and the accused, Abinash Nanda, are employees of Bird Group, a service provider company at the airport.

The woman alleged that she had paid Rs 30,000 to Nanda to renew her airport pass in December last year, but he was yet to do it.

“Instead of renewing my pass, he made a sexual advance and offered me Rs 1000 as an add-on to my salary for accepting his proposal to do night duty. I refused his offer and lodged a complaint with the company’s service manager. But he persuaded me to accept his proposal or else I will lose my job,” the woman said.

Refuting the allegations, Nanda said, “The woman employee has the impression that I am the authority to renew her pass, while the fact is that the HR department is the sole authority.”

Nanda accused the woman of framing false charges against him and said he was open to an investigation. “If I have sexually harassed her, let the CCTV cameras at the airport be examined to substantiate her allegations,” he pointed out.

Bird Group is one of India’s first licensed private ground handling service provider companies. It provides the most comprehensive portfolio of aviation services that ensure high standards of quality, safety and customer satisfaction.