A woman has alleged that a top executive of a firm with links to Naveen Jindal-promoted entities “groped” her while they were on a flight from Kolkata to Abu Dhabi. In response to her allegations, which she shared on X, MP and Jindal Steel chairman Naveen Jindal said he has ordered his team to investigate the matter. The accused, identified by the woman as Dinesh Kumar Saraogi, is the CEO of Oman-based Vulcan Green Steel. On its website, the firm calls itself a sister company to Jindal Shadeed Iron & Steel LLC, an Oman-based company controlled by key management personnel of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL). Saraogi stepped down as an executive director of JSPL's board in March 2023, according to company reports. He was also the CEO of the company’s steel business until he stepped down. Saraogi could not be reached for a comment, and Vulcan Green Steel did not respond to requests for a comment. In response to the woman’s post, Jindal wrote on Friday morning, “Thank you for reaching out and speaking up. It takes a lot of courage to do what you did and I want you to know that we have a zero tolerance policy for such matters. I have asked the team to immediately investigate the matter and thereafter strictest and necessary action will be taken.” Speaking to The Indian Express, the 28-year-old woman, whose social media profile describes her as the co-chair of the India Conference at Harvard, said she is in the process of filing a formal complaint with the Kolkata police. She said the alleged incident happened on July 16. “We were both travelling business class. He met me in the queue to boarding, and was seated next to me on the flight. We were having a very normal conversation. general banter. family, what I like to do, my hobbies,” she said. “He asked me if I like to watch movies, and of what kind. Then he asked if he could show me some stuff. He took his phone out and began to show me (porn). I did not imagine that would happen. The shock factor was high, and I completely froze. It was when he moved his hands over my body. that was when I got up and went to the washroom,” she alleged. She informed the airline staff, who made her sit where the air-hostesses are usually seated. “He kept asking them about me to find out details. For the rest of the flight, I sat there, except for landing, when I was given a different seat,” she said. “Even then, when the seat was changed, he tried to talk to me.” “At Abu Dhabi, we met the cops, who questioned him. That was the last I saw of him,” she said. The police in Abu Dhabi told her that she would have to go to the police station to file a complaint, and since she had a connecting flight to Boston, she couldn’t do so, she said. She said the man introduced himself to her as the CEO at Jindal Steel, and gave her a visiting card. According to officials in Jindal Steel, the accused is “CEO of Vulcan Green Steel, Oman, which is a promoter-owned company and does not have any direct relation with the listed company Jindal Steel and Power”. The woman said she is in the process of writing an email with a formal complaint to the Kolkata police. “It was unfortunate that I wasn’t able to make a formal complaint. From my end, I would like to do due diligence and make an attempt. But I’m not sure how that will work out since I was not in Kolkata at the time… Naveen Jindal has responded (on X). There needs to be some accountability as well,” she said. In response to his post, the woman had written online, “I appreciate your response Mr Jindal. I will be awaiting action as well.” In her social media posts, the woman had written that after asking if she likes to watch movies, the accused allegedly “whipped out his phone and earphones to show me porn”. She alleged that “he started groping me”. “I am sharing this because I want to remind everyone that something like this can happen to anyone. I am working to get this incident out to the founder of Jindal Steel, MP Naveen Jindal, so that he is aware of the kind of people who are in leadership. I am also afraid of how this molester must be treating his female employees from a place of power,” she wrote.
