New Delhi, Aug. 19: A senior woman official of spy agency RAW today swallowed rat poison outside the Prime Minister’s Office after being refused entry to push her charge of sexual harassment against a colleague.

As Nisha Bhatia, in her mid-40s, recuperated in hospital this evening, the government issued a statement saying a three-woman panel had already rejected her harassment charges and found her mentally disturbed enough to need counselling.

After the panel’s May 19 report, the Research and Analysis Wing had started a probe against Bhatia for misconduct which was to start today.

But the director-rank official refused to attend its proceedings and turned up at the PMO’s entrance, demanding to meet a senior official to reiterate her harassment complaint.

Officials, unsure how she might behave, refused. As security personnel blocked her way, Bhatia pulled out a bottle of rat poison and poured some of the stuff down her throat, sources said.

She was driven immediately to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, where she was treated and declared out of danger.

The harassment complaint by Bhatia, who is posted at the RAW training centre in Gurgaon, had brought the agency unwelcome publicity last year.

A probe panel was formed with the deputy national security adviser, Leela K. Ponappa, as its head and two women officials from the National Security Council secretariat and RAW as the other members.

After the panel found Bhatia mentally unstable, RAW chief Ashok Chaturvedi recommended her dismissal but the office of the national security adviser turned him down. Many in the security establishment feared that if Bhatia were removed from the agency, she could cause more embarrassment by going to the media.

Sources alleged that Bhatia had once turned up at the then RAW chief’s residence around midnight with a bucket of kerosene and threatened to torch herself if she was denied the foreign posting she wanted. At that time, too, she was at the Gurgaon centre.

The media release from the cabinet secretariat said: “The officer was given several opportunities to present her case, but she refused to co-operate with the (harassment probe) committee. Notwithstanding, the committee completed the inquiry on May 19, 2008, and found that her allegations could not be substantiated.”

It added: “Moreover, the committee found that her behaviour on a number of occasions, duly documented by the committee, appear to indicate a ‘disturbed state of mind’ and recommended medical counselling.” But Bhatia refused to be counselled, the government said.

“In view of these complaints of misconduct, a preliminary inquiry was ordered on August 8, 2008. When the officer was informed about initiation of the inquiry today, the 19th of August, she indicated that she would not appear in any proceedings, and warned that the department would face the consequences,” the release said.

Bhatia had recently written to the PMO rejecting the all-women panel’s findings and alleging discrimination, a source said.