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Infosys reacts to techie murder, seeks suggestions to improve staff security

Information technology major Infosys said on Tuesday it would seek suggestions to upgrade staff safety measures on its campuses after a 23-year-old engineer at its Pune office two days ago.

A security guard murdered young employee Rasila Raju OP when she was working alone to finish a project on Sunday evening at her office in Hinjewadi IT park. The incident triggered allegations of security lapses against the company, which employs some of the brightest techies in India.

“At Infosys, we are focused and committed to the safety of our employees. Yesterday’s unfortunate incident is a reminder, however, that nothing is foolproof,” the company said in a statement.

Rasila’s family and Pune police commissioner Rashmi Shukla had asked Infosys why no female guard was deployed when a woman was working alone at night.

Shukla said: “Infosys should explain that why it called Rasila for the evening shift when there was no one in her section.”

In response, Infosys said it encourages employees to leave the campus before 8pm, and whenever any woman staff is travelling at night, arrangements are made and follow-up calls are placed.

Suspect Bhaben Saikia, who was captured in Mumbai the morning after the crime, worked with a private security firm and was deputed at Infosys six months ago. A background check at the time of appointment had shown no previous record of crime.

“We have mandatory background checks for vendor employees, sub-cons, housekeeping staff and rotating vendor staffs,” Infosys said.

The company reaffirmed that it would continue to seek recommendations on how to strengthen staff safety. It also listed security initiatives taken on its campuses.

“We have a common safety helpline that is manned 24X7, in addition we have an Infosys emergency app that has been made available to all India locations.”

The company said it has “extensive CCTV coverage across our campuses, and continuously assess the need to add more surveillance on campuses as we have grown in space and size”.

However, the crime on the ninth floor of its Pune office couldn’t be recorded as Rasila’s workstation was hidden from the surveillance cameras.

Infosys said it sends out mails regularly to its employees on safety programmes, which provide personal safety tips and self-defence sessions.

Source: HindustanTimes