Raipur: The Chhattisgarh government Sunday transferred Surajpur District Collector Ranbir Sharma, a day after a video of him slapping a youth went viral on social media, with Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel himself apologising for the incident.
Sharma has been attached with the state secretariat as the joint secretary in-waiting but without any responsibility. Raipur district panchayat CEO Gaurav Kumar Singh will take over at Surajpur.
The quick action resulted from Baghel’s personal intervention in the matter following a massive uproar over the incident.
“Surajpur collector’s ill conduct has come to my knowledge through social media. This is highly condemnable,” the chief minister tweeted Sunday. “No such conduct will be tolerated in Chhattisgarh. The removal of Ranbir Sharma has been ordered with immediate effect.”
He added: “Such a conduct by any government official is unacceptable. I am saddened by this incident. I apologise to the youth.”
Baghel has also asked the officials to provide a new mobile phone to the youth as his handset was broken by the officer.
सोशल मीडिया के माध्यम से सूरजपुर कलेक्टर रणबीर शर्मा द्वारा एक नवयुवक से दुर्व्यवहार का मामला मेरे संज्ञान में आया है।
यह बेहद दुखद और निंदनीय है। छत्तीसगढ़ में इस तरह का कोई कृत्य कतई बर्दाश्त नहीं किया जाएगा।
कलेक्टर रणबीर शर्मा को तत्काल प्रभाव से हटाने के निर्देश दिए हैं।
— Bhupesh Baghel (@bhupeshbaghel) May 23, 2021
सोशल मीडिया के माध्यम से सूरजपुर कलेक्टर रणबीर शर्मा द्वारा एक नवयुवक से दुर्व्यवहार का मामला मेरे संज्ञान में आया है।
यह बेहद दुखद और निंदनीय है। छत्तीसगढ़ में इस तरह का कोई कृत्य कतई बर्दाश्त नहीं किया जाएगा।
कलेक्टर रणबीर शर्मा को तत्काल प्रभाव से हटाने के निर्देश दिए हैं।
— Bhupesh Baghel (@bhupeshbaghel) May 23, 2021
Sources close to the chief minister told ThePrint that an angry Baghel was in favour of the officer’s suspension.
“However, he changed his decision due to undisclosed reasons,” a Congress leader considered close to the CM told ThePrint.
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Officer’s highhandedness
In the video that has gone viral, Sharma is seen slapping a youth and flinging the latter’s mobile phone to the ground.
He is also seen instructing policemen to beat up the youth even as the police tell the victim to remain silent.
Sharma later apologised for his actions, saying he did not mean to hurt the victim.
He released a video of his own, saying the youth had no explanation for why he was flouting lockdown.
“A video has gone viral on social media in which I am seen slapping a man. He was riding a motorcycle when I and the policemen present there tried to stop him,” Sharma says in the video. “He was not even willing to stop. When we asked him why he left home during lockdown, he said he was going for vaccination. He produced a slip of proof but it had no relevance to vaccination. He later said he was going to see his grandmother. He misbehaved with us and I slapped him in rage. I apologise for my conduct.”
Sharma’s conduct has also been slammed by the IAS Association.
“The IAS Association strongly condemns the behaviour of Collector Surajpur, Chhattisgarh,” it tweeted Sunday morning.
“It is unacceptable & against the basic tenets of the service & civility. Civil servants must have empathy & provide a healing touch to society at all times, more so in these difficult times.”
The IAS Association strongly condemns the behaviour of Collector Surajpur, Chhattisgarh.
It is unacceptable & against the basic tenets of the service & civility.
Civil servants must have empathy & provide a healing touch to society at all times, more so in these difficult times.— IAS Association (@IASassociation) May 23, 2021
This, however, isn’t the officer’s first brush with the headlines.
Sharma, a 2012-batch IAS officer, was in the news in 2015 when the state’s Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) reportedly caught him taking a bribe of Rs 10,000. He was then posted as the sub-divisional magistrate of Bhanupratappur in Kanker district.
The officer had allegedly asked for Rs 40,000 in lieu of quashing an inquiry into irregularities in a case of land sale and purchase. The then patwari Sudhir Lakda had lodged a complaint with the ACB, following which a trap was laid and the IAS officer allegedly caught.
His name, however, was struck off the inquiry and an office boy was jailed in the case, according to reports in the local media.
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