In a shocking incident, the District Magistrate of Surajpaur in Chhattisgarh was caught on camera slapping a youth and breaking his mobile phone for allegedly violating Covid norms despite the fact that the young man was trying to show him a piece of paper to explain why he was outdoors during the lockdown.
The brazen misuse of power displayed by Ranbir Sharma, the Surajpaur DM, was severely criticised by the netizens on social media that forced state Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel to condemn the behaviour of the officer and order his removal from the district.
The victim was reportedly out to buy medicines amid COVID 19 lockdown when the DM stopped him and asked why he was violating lockdown. Shortly after, the DM can be seen in the video as walking away from him only to get angry and calling the boy back. Sharma then takes the phone of the man and throws it on the ground and goes on to slap the boy after fluttering out some words. It didn’t stop there, Sharma then ordered the security personnel to hit the boy with lathis.
This is Chattisgarh, #Surajpur 's Collector, Mr. #RanbirSharma
— Praveen Angusamy, IFS 🐾 (@PraveenIFShere) May 22, 2021
The DM's version is that the youth was over speeding. The youth's version is that he had gone to hospital to deliver food.
Whatever it is , this behaviour is outrageous & highly condemnable.pic.twitter.com/weV0oFNYHF
The DM later apologised for his actions saying he had no intention of belittling the young man. Sharma, however, blamed the boy for not providing clear documents and a rational reason for his outing during the lockdown.
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Sharma even accused the boy of ‘insolent behaviour’. “Due to the youth's insolent behaviour that I was agitated and thus slapped him,” the DM said.
“The youth claimed that he was on his way to get vaccinated, but there was no proper documentation. Later, he said he was going to see his grandmother,” the district collector added.
“I never had any intention to disrespect or belittle the person in the video. In this pandemic situation, district Surajpur along with the entire Chhattisgarh state has been facing an irreparable loss of lives. We all employees of the state government are striving hard to tackle this problem,” he said.
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After the uproar on social media, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel ordered the removal of District Collector Ranbir Sharma from Surajpur immediately.
“The case of misbehaviour with a young man by Surajpur collector Ranbir Sharma has come to my notice through social media. It is very sad and condemnable. No such action will be tolerated in Chhattisgarh. Instructions have been given to remove Collector Ranbir Sharma with immediate effect.,” said CM Baghel on Twitter.
The Chief Minister's Office (CMO) also tweeted later that the state government has decided to give a new phone to the victim.
This isn’t the first time Ranbir Sharma has been in the news for the wrong reason. Back in 2015, as SDM in Kanker district, Sharma was caught taking a bribe of Rs 10,000. He was caught by anti-corruption bureau officials on the complaint by a patwari who accused him of continuously demanding bribe.
