Flipkart CEO Bansal resigned after sexual misconduct claim: source

FILE PHOTO - Binny Bansal, Group Chief Executive Officer of India's largest e-commerce firm Flipkart, poses at the company's headquarters in Bengaluru, India July 7, 2017. REUTERS/Abhishek N. Chinnappa

(Reuters) - The investigation into Flipkart Group chief Binny Bansal that led to his resignation on Tuesday stemmed from an allegation of sexual assault that dates back a few years, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

“In late July ... an allegation came to us. It was a claim of sexual assault against Binny,” the source said, adding the individual concerned was a former Flipkart associate who was not with the company at the time of making the allegation.

“The investigation could not corroborate the allegation. It did, however, surface a lack of transparency on Binny’s part.”

Bansal has strongly denied the allegation, according to a separate statement by Flipkart and its main shareholder Walmart (WMT.N).

He could not be reached for comment by repeated emails and phone calls from Reuters.

Reporting by Nandita Bose in New York and Aishwarya Venugopal and Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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