Thaindian News

Mysore Jan 12 (IANS) Infosys Technologies has sacked a software engineer for making a hoax bomb call to an airline at Delhi airport in October to avoid missing his Bangalore-bound flight. The firm has also suspended two staffers arrested for alleged criminal actions in the last four months, a top company official said here Tuesday.
Abhishek Gupta was sacked for making a hoax bomb call to budget carrier GoAir Oct 25. Pallav Chakraborty and Krishnamurthy were suspended after they were arrested. While Chakraborty was held on charges of torturing his domestic help, Krishnamurthy was arrested for the alleged molestation of a French woman.

“Yes, we have sacked Gupta for indulging in unethical behaviour. We have a very strict code of conduct. We take strict action against those who do not adhere to it,” Infosys board member and head of HRD and education and research T.V. Mohandas Pai told IANS.

The 25-year-old Gupta caused a bomb scare by telling GoAir staff that there was some suspicious object on the plane after he failed to convince them earlier to delay the flight.

“He thought the hoax call will delay the flight and he could reach the airport in the meantime to catch the flight,” a Delhi Police official said after Gupta was taken into custody and jailed.

Chakraborty was arrested with his wife Sinchita by the Bangalore police Dec 29 for allegedly torturing their 15-year-old domestic help.

On Chakraborty, Pai said he joined the company 15 days before his arrest. “We suspended him after an inquiry into the child abuse, which is a very sad thing to have happened,” Pai said.

As the police were investigating the case and the accused was in judicial custody, Pai said the company would take strict action against him after the law had taken its course.

“We do not condone such acts. We are saddened by such an inhuman act. We have 109,882 employees on rolls. I think as we grow bigger, we are not the sample but part of the universe,” Pai said on the margins of a media briefing on the company’s financial performance for the third quarter.

Chakraborty and Sinchita, who hail from Kolkata, brought the girl from West Bengal for household chores.

A social organisation rescued the girl after raiding Chakrabortys’ house following a tip-off that a young domestic help was in a bad state with injuries on her back and cut marks on her lips.

The police did not name the victim to protect her privacy and not to hamper investigation.

Krishnamurthy, working at Infosys’ Mysore development centre, was suspended after the police arrested him Dec 3 on the charge of molesting a French woman.

“Krishnamurthy remains suspended as police inquiry is still on. We will not spare anyone if (his or her) behaviour is not in line with our code of conduct,” Pai said.

The three incidents occurred at a time when the company was recovering from the impact of a year-long global tech meltdown.