VISAKHAPATNAM: An irate Assistant Commissioner of the endowments department on Thursday created a flutter when she showered the Deputy Commissioner with sand in the presence of their colleagues. The Assistant Commissioner, K Santi, later said Deputy Commissioner E Pushpa Vardhan has been harassing her and other junior officials.
Vardhan, who arrived from Amaravati in the morning, was reviewing the files with other officials when Santi barged into his cabin and threw sand at him. The Deputy Commissioner, who was transferred to Visakhapanam recently, has been part of an enquiry committee constituted to probe the MANSAS and Simhachalam land issues.
Vardhan expressed ignorance over Santi’s motive to target him. He lodged a complaint with the endowment commissioner against Santi, seeking disciplinary action against her. He also forwarded video footage of the incident to the commissioner.
In his written complaint, Vardhan said he was verifying files and ‘thappals’ when Santi barged in and showered him in sand. She also hurled profanities at him, he complained. Stating that Santi’s act was punishable under the Classification Control and Appeal (CCA) Rules, Vardhan sought the commissioner’s permission to initiate disciplinary action against the officer.
Santi, meanwhile, said the Deputy Commissioner has been nursing a grudge against her, and was harassing her and other subordinate staff mentally for the past one month. She added that Vardhan had unnecessarily suspended the executive officer of the Yernimamba Temple.