Bangalore, Dec. 16 (PTI): A call centre employee has been murdered after being allegedly raped by the driver of a vehicle hired by her company, HP.

The company, however, said in a release that he was an “unauthorised” person “who impersonated the regular driver”.

The incident, the first such to be reported from the booming BPO sector in the country’s IT capital, occurred on December 13 but came to light three days later with the arrest of Shivakumar, a senior police officer said.

The police have recovered the body of Prathibha, 24.

Deputy commissioner of police Alok Kumar said on the night of December 13 she left for home from office ? at Electronics City on Bangalore’s outskirts ? in the vehicle Shivakumar drove.

During interrogation, he told the police that he threatened her at knife point demanding that she withdraw cash from an ATM and hand it over, Kumar said.

When Prathibha resisted, he drove her to a deserted place at Anjanapura, slit her throat and dumped the body. The police suspect that she had been raped.

The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), the apex body of software and BPO industries, voiced concern over the incident. Its president, Kiran Karnik, said: “We need to look into what are the lessons that we have to learn from this incident.”

HP said in the release that it was bolstering its security system. The first pick-up and the last drop will be a male employee, it announced. A security guard would accompany women staff if there were no men travelling in the car.

The BPO industry has attracted young graduates, particularly women who work in shifts.

Most of these companies have contracted vehicles from tourist operators and travel agencies to provide transport facilities to employees.

HP emphasised in its release the role it played after Prathibha, who got married recently, failed to return home. It lodged the FIR with the police, which apparently got hold of the accused driver following the trail of the company’s own investigation.